I Wish you Joy and Wonder in 2024 - Jean Huang Photography

What happens when the door that’s been locking you from the world for years all of sudden opens? I don’t know about you. In my case, I ran out, clumsily got myself together and started exploring. The wheels that’s supposed to churn the world are ready to start swirling again. And yet, the new norm is not the same as the old. For someone that’s pretty communicative (ehem, talkative), I found myself at loss for words on more occasions than I would like to admit.

Nonetheless, in 2023, my partner-in-crime and I started traveling the world again. The plethora of emotions that we experienced in lock-downs and social spacing must have gotten us deep. We went even more further away from the “roads well-trekked”. As if we were trying to make up for the 3 years that were lost, we are making friends in more incredible ways.

On the west coast of Sicily, we crashed the party celebrating twin sisters Adele and Giovanna’s 75th birthday. The cake and champagne that were brought over from their table completed our lunch perfectly.

God sent Tamara over to help us (she was dining at the table next to ours) when we struggled with our choices in another local restaurant. Sicilian hospitality saw us being taken on a tour of amazing dessert shops (Sicilians have sweet teeth) after dinner, followed by caffè at her home.

On a road-side in Tamba, Japan, I had a “deep” discussion about some farming practices and the kind of crops grown with a lady that was working in her field. Had I not have two more temples to visit for the day and the heat I was sensing from my Assistante’s stare piercing through the car wind-shield, I would have ended up in her house, sampling the prestigious Tamba kuromame (black bean) that she had just harvested. Before parting our ways, I didn’t forget to have her smile forever saved on my phone, despite her weak protest of being an obasan and hence not appropriate for camera. I should have reminded her of what I do professionally with camera, and women. ;-)

The list goes on and on. I wish I have more space and time to share. But the post has already gotten long and it’s already 2024. :P

No worries, put in a request/reminder, and I shall write more about the disbelief on people’s faces when they realize where we are from, or the lady with a dream to open a B&B, or another lady that’s working to preserve a historical house.

As I’ve added three more rings (as in tree rings) to my life, I found myself being more unapologetically myself (weird at times) and true to my values. It’s long been my goal to have a business with a soul and to instill humanity in what I do. In 2023, I started gifting people photographs of themselves on our travels, be it a group of friends on top of a hill being surrounded by clouds, or a lady in the setting sun next to a medieval town, or a young Japanese couple that just wanted some photographs of themselves with the momiji (maple leaves in fall colors) and was totally not ready for a mini portrait session. :D Oh, I still owe a mature Japanese couple photographs of them in the beautiful fall colors, hand-in-hand.

All these photographs commemorated unique, beautiful and/or fun moments and I think it’s important that they have those memories.

Speaking of memories, many of you know that I started a journey of “transforming” more mature and wise women in 2022 (see also here). Inevitably, I was again reminded brutally how fragile life is and sometimes we don’t have the time or chance to say good-bye (I also shared about losses here and here). Even the most beautiful palm tree in the whole Southern California is not there to grace the mountains in the background anymore. I’m grateful that they now have left traces of their beauty in photographs.

As the first light of 2024 is looming near, I wanted to present this image made on a frigid morning of Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park. The early light in crispy air gives off an aura of hope. And I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you lots of joy and (or of) wonder in 2024. I hope our paths will cross in our wanders. :D

Ciao!

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Oops, I Did It Again, in Alaska - Los Angeles Fine Art Photographer

It was an ordinary morning. We got up to head further south. But when we reached the Seaward Highway, I had to jump out the car.

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For someone who doesn’t like doing the same things over and over again, fog is my favorite creative companion, other than my ever-present Assistante.

After an hour and a half on the same stretch of the highway, I realized oops, I did it again. And, the theme somehow became something like this:

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Oops, I did it again… I played with my heart and got lost in the game… :D

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Buono, Favignana, Italy - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

He said his English is not very good. I was nervous the whole time he was talking.

He told us in his English, next to who appeared to be his wife, that he once had a crush on his English teacher in his youth. He was among the friendly senior citizens that we ran into exploring this beautiful island that’s 11 miles off the west coast of Sicily.

Fortunately, we later saw him again on a different stretch of the beach, in one piece, with his supposed wife. Buono!

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I’m a firm believer that one of the best ways to learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself in the environment that the language is spoken in. For someone that’s passionate about food, I built my whole (meager) Italian vocabulary almost 100% near or around food. :-)

The word “mangiare” (“eat” in Italian) could be the first Italian word that I learned (of course, other than “buon giorno”). In fact, I heard it so many times that I knew how to pronounce it before I even understood the meaning. Do you think people of Italia are just as passionate about food if not more?

So, the story of “buono” goes like this:

On the island of Favignano, Italy, a gelato store somehow became our first stop off the port. Just like the fisherman that walked in before us, still in his water-proof outfit.

He must have seen the way that our eyes were devouring the massive load of gelati, enclosed by a brioche that couldn’t quite close. “Buono!” he turned around, with index finger pressed against his cheek, swiveling (see an illustration of the gesture here). That, my friends, was all it takes to jump in with our own brioche con gelato. And this may have been how I learned to associate the word “buono” with yummy food (it could also be this incident in Bagheria off of Palermo, Sicily).

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Surrounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea, Favignana is guaranteed to provide some nice vista of the ocean. As you’ve heard me said time and again that “People are Landscape”, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t include people in my vista.

As we looped our way back to the port, it was livened up by all kinds of people - people buying fish, people lounging around (coffee) bar, and people in trouble. There, I witnessed how everybody dropped what they had on their hands and worked together for a happy ending. Call me old fashion. But I think that is molto buono (VERY good in English)!

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P.S. Bonus material since I’m being chatty today:

Do you still remember Cetara on the Amalfi Coast of Italy, the town that catches anchovy and turn them into delicacy, i.e., Colatura di Alici di Cetara? The ancient tradition of fishing with menaide that was once used by Cetara is still carried on by fishermen of Sicily. The small opening of the mesh (on average 12 mm) allowed the small anchovies to pass while the larger ones remained entangled. The two ends of this tool were passed through hollow two-barrel cables that functioned as floats. The anchovies caught in the mesh are recovered by hand one by one. The video in the provided link (starting around 5:00 timeline) explains it well.

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