Photography and Text by Joy Bao, Copyright 2020
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Imagine a Summer’s Day
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“Back and back we are drawn to steep ourselves in what, perhaps, is only an image of the reality, not the reality itself, a summer’s day imagined in the heart of a northern winter.”
Don DeLillo, White Noise
Funny enough, I never finish reading White Noise. It was one of the books I shoved in my suitcase before going on this trip on the last days of 2018, and traveled with me to the Caribbean sea. I did not plan for the trip at all. In fact, I was originally planning to spend a quiet domestic Christmas in Long Island with my uncle’s family, and maybe also go to Manhattan to see the Rockefeller tree. It turned out that they were going on a cruise trip with a few other families, and I just joined them, kind of at last minute.
We first went to Puerto Rico, and then got on board, stopping at different islands for the next week. San Juan is a colorful city, but once we were on the cruise ship the color scheme was lowered to mostly green and blue—the ocean, and trees on islands when we pulled in to shore. Traveling with several families is not my favorite thing, especially when I do not know most of the people and do not have any internet connection. I remember a lot of not-really-mean-it conversations and awkward laughs. It was particularly easy to get tired of socializing, and maybe just people in general.
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Looking back, I think that is why most of my photos shot during this trip focused on nature and architecture, instead of people.
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The summery Caribbean weather was everything that a New York winter was not. I tried to capture that by showing these wide, open, and quiet places.
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The trip started and ended in Puerto Rico. After getting off the cruise ship, we spent another two days in San Juan. It was a popular winter getaway destination so the atmosphere was quite tourist-y, but there were always some quiet and peaceful corners besides all the noise and colors.
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We went to the seaside one day, and I realized I could never get tired of the ocean—people, highly possible and already happened; ocean, never. It is mysterious and calm, unpredictable but inclusive. I looked at the sea. I looked at the sun shinning on the water’s surface at the end of a narrow tunnel. I looked at lovers, families, friends who were looking at the sea just like I was.
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I looked at the sea. It was the last days of 2018. I was wearing a t-shirt and flip flops, and could feel the warm breeze on my skin. I looked at the sea and I thought, this must be a summer’s day imagined in the heart of a northern winter.
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About The Author: Joy Bao is a senior enrolled at Bryn Mawr College. Class of 2020. To access additional articles by Joy Bao, click here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/habitat/