July 6th - 18:34

Title: July 6th - 18:34 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: We got back on the road and headed to San Antonio to meet my friend Sadaf, who is a wonderful curator and nonprofit leader. She was at her aunties house so we picked her up on the road from there. We headed to a falafel spot nearby for a pita wrap. We drank some chai at a table outside surrounded by sunflowers and then carried on to interrogated one another as it was the first time finally meeting in person. Sadaf spoke of her vision with the artists and themes she works with to bring awareness to the significance and relevancy of South Asia, and nonprofit work in Haiti. Sadaf asked me about the art project I am working on. And I suggested that we can begin the portrait shoot to show and live through the art in how it works. But first, I asked if I may make her portraits with the six foot sun flowers with the golden haze. We shot a couple rolls on the Rollieflex before heading out to her special place in the forest. We walked deep into the woods, without a trail. Trusting the Sadaf and the forest to show us the way. She knew where we were going and I kept on flowing. You can hear a gentle rustle. A body of water was close by. There was a blue heron sitting in the river. Drinking, then flapping its wings passing us towards the sun. I looked at Sadaf and smiled with delight. She brought us to the magical place. To the nature that breathes birds and feeds life. I asked her to stand under the shadows of the tree. Then, to look at me... and I recorded and walked around the mother tree. The camera was following the golden light from the sun that was glowing on her face. She looked beautiful. Illuminated like a goddess in the forest amongst the hidden critters and winged feathery creatures. You can hear the echoes of birds chirping and the buzzing sound of my shutter clicking. I shot the roll until it ran out of film. After the portrait we continued on the path down to the stream and back to the car. It was time for her to be with her family. We dropped her off and said goodbye to start the drive to Houston. Sadaf became the curatorial consultant for my ai photography series, Atlas, and helped make the final selections for each country.