Do What You Love, or Find Love in What You Do (Part 1)
By Phoebe Pineda
Point to Ponder: “I don’t discover anything new; I reveal what’s already there.” --photographer to Queenie Thompson, Queenie (1987 miniseries)
Storyline:
CT Ong’s photography can best be described in one word: revelatory. Each picture captures a single moment, and each moment reveals a story.
For CT (aka City), photography is a sort of meditation, a way to relax the mind by concentrating on a single subject. Wildlife photography, for instance, is an exercise in patience, in adapting to your subject’s behavior and waiting hours to get the perfect shot. “Calming down the mind and taking a break during photography actually helps me to look at work and other life problems or issues differently,” he says. “There are many times that a solution pops up when my mind is relaxed.”
An engineer by profession, CT discovered his passion for photography when he volunteered to take pictures at an international conference. CT enjoyed seeing the detail in people’s expressions and natural behaviors, and afterwards he began taking pictures in his daily life, documenting everything from business trips to family celebrations. With travel suspended during COVID, CT took to photographing his neighborhood: birds visiting flowers in his garden, vivid sunsets painting the sky in vibrant reds, and even droplets of water swirling around a leaf. “Through the viewpoint of a camera,” he says, “I learn to discover beauty in everything I see.”
Reflection:
Many of us have a profession (something we’re good at) and a passion (something we love). Your profession and passion may not be the same, but you can find ways to incorporate the two. Much as CT is most focused and ready to solve engineering problems when he’s behind the lens of a camera, having diverse interests outside of work can help enhance our creativity and spark new ideas. The more ways we have of looking at an issue, the more options we have to tackle it.
They say that the brain is most creative when it has to work within limitations, and COVID provided a great opportunity for CT to hone his craft, to really capture the simple beauty of his immediate surroundings. Plans may change and circumstances might be less than ideal, but sometimes, when we’re under pressure or constrained in our thinking, that’s when the most interesting discoveries emerge.
Originally from the SF Bay Area, Phoebe Pineda currently studies Writing and Literature at the University of California Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies. In addition to storytelling, she enjoys sunset-watching, road trips, and making art.
Anand and Phoebe first met at a Kid-to-Work Day over two decades ago. Once a week, they meet to discuss the various stories, experiences, memories, and lessons he's collected over the years. They approach each conversation from two different stages in life, one looking forward, the other looking back.