Long walks with my camera are a therapeutic practice. It’s when I am most acutely aware of the distance I feel from those I love, the inevitable aging of my parents, the neglect of my relationships when I’m lost in the metropolitan rush. The way I frame my photographs — often at a literal and metaphorical 'safe distance' — mirrors my personal tendencies towards attachment and avoidance. These images serve as a reflection of my inner world, where appreciation for the lives of others coexists with an intrinsic need for space from those I love.

"The Distance Between Us" invites viewers to ponder the peculiar play between connection and detachment in their own lives. This project has emerged from a subconscious attempt at connection and an appreciation of the small everyday, capturing the protagonists of our daily lives in their most unassuming moments.

The images are a photographic exploration of fleeting yet meaningful glimpses of strangers on the street. In this series, conventional composition is secondary to capturing the essence of each place and moment — many shots are taken from the hip to capture the candid and imperfect beauty of their unassuming ‘protagonists’. Although I’ll never know their real stories, I hope to capture an interpretation of their lives, reminding us that, much like us, strangers we cross paths with have entire lifetimes of their own.

Some images feature drunken couples embracing each other, a stranger dancing alone at a traffic light, or a barista cleaning store windows. Despite their mundane setting, these scenes often convey pensiveness, solitude, contemplation, or anticipation. I often capture the subject looking away, faces unseen, on slow shutter and tight crops — anonymity enhances the emotional depth, transforming the ‘protagonists’ into vessels for meanings that resonate with us.

In my personal life, I’ve always struggled balancing attachment and distance. This internal struggle manifests in my relationships, where I yearn for connection yet maintain a safe distance. Paradoxically, transient interactions with strangers often provide an uplifting sense of connection; they are meaningful precisely because their inconsequential nature offers candid honesty and openness.

Ultimately, these images are a reminder that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex as our own, even if we only catch a brief, fleeting glimpse, and that you should hug your loved ones now, if you can.

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