strength in vulnerability

 

Ushabelle S. Bongo Photography
Models: Sunshine Barz (left) and Sarah Pepito (right)
MUA: Vien Cabilin


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yes, there is power in being powerless. 
Nothing is wrong with being vulnerable or in letting all worries and anxieties out into the open  every once in awhile.  Harboring  hard or heavy feelings have been proven unhealthy, from my experience, unexpressed anxieties can bring you down more than when they are verbally expressed.  So loosen yourself up by confiding your fears and whatever worries you have to someone you can trust (or you can write it all down and be done with it-that's what I do sometimes hehe). I say that there is strength in vulnerability, because by simply admitting your fears and pain, you exercise humility. And it takes ALOT of courage and moral strength to put aside our pride. By admitting, you assert that you will not be the victim and that you will not let the hardships that are troubling you  it thwart your resolve. Let it all out in one blow, donot linger but move on!


In photography, I say that there is strength in vulnerabilities... hmm, let me put it this way...
As cold as this may sound, it is nevertheless true that tragedy is attractive. It attracts human interest and it draws in a lot of audience, thus making it a good subject for photographs, or in journalism for that matter , a good story to air. In photography, this attraction is the power, it is what gives strength to an image. A tragic subject  is a strong subject. A  photo of a tragedy if wise-fully presented and channeled  can influence or provoke certain emotions. It can change one's perspective and even catalyze actions. An example would be the iconic photo of Kevin Carter  that won the  Pulitzer Award. An image of a starving dying child crouched in the ground with a vulture lurking behind him.  The image provokes an emotion- pity, then come the personal realizations, reflections (example: I'm so lucky to have everything I need, unlike this poor child), then the resolve and the action (ex. From now on, I'll not waste nor take anything for granted). See? 


Anyway, I'm talking about vulnerability and tragedy because, my intended mood for the two photos above are precisely that-being vulnerable. So hopefully, you caught that feel with the model's gesture, facial expression-which I must say is well executed, the styling-being almost naked, bare and easy to hurt and very vulnerable to the elements, and the post-processing I did to add a feeling of being lost and scared. XD


so there you go!