2021 · Film Photography · Manzhou Township, Pingtung, Taiwan
Manzhou, Pingtung has always been a place we love returning to.
Raw. Untouched. Quiet in a way cities never are.
That morning, we woke up before six.
The guesthouse was only a three-minute walk from the beach.
Before we even saw the ocean, we could already hear it —
waves folding onto sand, over and over, like breathing.
For no clear reason, I felt my chest tighten.
My eyes filled with tears.
Maybe it was the sound.
Maybe it was the light.
Maybe it was simply being alive in that moment.
I carried my FM2 and my ukulele with me.
On the empty shore,
I sang Listen to the Sea by A-mei to the wind and the water,
just the two of us and the morning tide.
Then I took this photograph.
Nothing dramatic.
Just sand. Foam. A small stone.
But it held the quietest peace
I had felt in a long time.