On Longing

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

I created the dragon eye piece shown above. I was so proud of my little creation and wanted to show it off. I tried to get all the little details into the photo, as well as including my fingers for scale. It's very small, and I still treasure it to this day.

---

"The souvenir exists as a sample of the now distanced experience, an experience which the object can only evoke and resonate."

This was from one of the gardens on the property of a closed down shop on St. George Street. It felt like the jewel of the city for me, and I spent a lot of time there absorbing its beauty. Since the shop closed, I can't access it, and being there feels like a distant echo of a memory now.

---

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body."

I found these sweet little jellyfish at an aquarium, and I was instantly obsessed with the bright blue color of the tank and the hypnotic movements of the little jellies. I needed to capture an image of them because I wanted to take them home so badly.

---

"Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss."

I chose the image above due to the presence of my friends in the image. I am the one in the middle giving a thumbs up, and my friends are all around me. We used to be a very close-knit group, but I rarely keep in contact with any of them, if I have managed to contact them at all. This old memory reminds me of my times with them that I can't have back because we are all so far apart, and because we have become strangers.

---

"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy."

To me, vintage things are 'exotic'. They evoke a time long past, and I am intrigued by antiques all of the time. The camera shown is at least twice as old as I am, and still in decent working condition. It's my specimen and trophy, and I display the camera proudly on my shelf.