“Always be yourself…do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it” – Bruce Lee

As human beings I think we often struggle finding our identity. In fact, I think we spend our entire lives in search of who we really are and not who we think we are. In other cases more often than not, we spend more time pondering how we can be just like someone else. Be as cool as the jock in school, or have swag like the hottest celebrity. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit and realize that our own personalities, our own stories are unique in it’s own way.

For example, in the late 90’s the fashion trend among young kids and teenagers were wearing baggy clothes. Or currently the trend right now is to have a full grown beard. What’s so special if you dress up like everyone else, or groom like everyone else. You don’t stand out, you blend in with the rest. You become the norm. You are unique and special to stand and shine on your own. You don’t need to dress or act like a handful of people to feel secure or feel accepted. Just be you and you’ll reap the most out of life. If you’re naturally an asshole, cool! We need some of those in the world to balance everything out and to make us appreciate those that are nice, that are pleasant to be around.

Important thing to remember in street photography or whatever genre photography you choose…”Be Yourself”. Don’t mimic or copy another photographer’s style that you saw on social media just because it looks very colorful or received over a thousand likes. I’m not saying you can’t experiment with that particular technique or genre but ultimately you’ll want to find your own style, to add your own touch, and add your voice into your photography.

There’s a saying to “Make your photography so personal that you wouldn’t want to share with others”. I got into street photography because I was introduced to Vivian Maier. I loved her work the moment I laid eyes on them. I loved the story behind each picture, the raw emotions she captured and was able to instill into her photographs, and the nostalgia of the era of the 50’s and 60’s. I wanted to create images that had evoked the same response that Maier was able to get out of me. Through her images you can feel what kind of person she may have been without having met her. She was herself and that’s what made her photographs special, she found a way to express her viewpoints and share her personality through pictures. Poets do the exact same thing but through a pen and paper, musicians with their musical instruments, painters with their brushes and canvases, with street photographers it’s with our camera and our eyes.

Support Here!

Currently, I am campaigning a gofundme account to help further my knowledge in street photography with Jack Simon and his two-day workshop in San Francisco June 11-12.  This is an intensive in class and in the field workshop that is limited to only 12 students and is expected to sell out.  I want to further my learning as a street photographer with this added perspective of a different city and bring back my knowledge to grow street photography in Hawaii.

Mahalo in advance for your support.  Hope to share all my learnings and photos with you when I get back!

Total gofundme request: $1170

$495 for the two day workshop

$675 RT airfare from Hawaii to SF

Please come check my photos on instagram @timhuynh_photography

Thanks and Mahalo!