Life and portraiture are, in some way, remarkably alike. Both are acts of accepting things that don't go as planned, while still wishing to "preserve this moment." In life, there are hardly ever any perfect moments. There is hesitation, contradiction, and incompleteness. Portraiture is the same: if it's just neatly arranged and beautiful, for some reason, it doesn't linger in the heart. A slightly crooked smile. A fleeting moment of averted gaze. A silence that words can't capture. It is in such "imperfections" that the time and emotions a person has lived seep through. That's why I think portraiture isn't just about recording youth or beauty, but about trying to capture "how that person is living." And for the one taking the photo, too, their view of life appears directly in the image. Those who want to dominate others take photos that feel somehow stifling. Those who want to understand others take photos in which the subject can breathe easy. Those who know loneliness try to capture the emotions within the silence. In other words, portraiture may be a world where, even before the camera's capabilities, "how one faces and lives with people" is what gets reflected. The more carefully one gazes at life, the more one can notice people's small emotions. The more one has experienced being hurt, the more one can see someone's vulnerability as beautiful. That's why living life fully and taking deep portraits are surely connected. I think taking a photo of a person isn't just capturing their face, but quietly affirming "you exist here."