A Little Brave

Please welcome first-time contributor Joel, a man in his thirties from Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines. Joel is a chemist who teaches chemistry at one of the local universities. He has struggled with depression for a good part of his adult life. He has sought counselling a number of times to help him accept and manage the unique challenges that come with living with depression. He uses photography as an instrument to both plumb the depths of his soul and explore the distant horizons that lay ahead of him one picture at a time.

About this photo: “Our family celebrates Holy Week in the town of Madridejos where both my parents were born and spent most of their childhood years. The town is located in Bantayan Island just off the northern tip of Cebu. This picture was shot on one of my early morning photo walks a little after sunrise at one of the nearby beaches. I have always found myself anxious in large social gatherings, but I realized lately that photography is my way into the world as it allows me to both establish real connections with the subjects of my portraits and fit comfortably in a crowd when shooting street photos. Photography has allowed me not only to survive, but to actually thrive in this life.”

Find more from Joel at his blog.

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