How I Found Myself Freaking Finally!!!

 

For months I have been asking myself what is Emma Li all about? All I could come out with is fashion and photography, photography and fashion. Round and round I go.

The answers are not very satisfying as you can tell. I was taking these photos, and I wonder why I was making these “pretty” photos. I look at photos of myself, I don’t know what to do with them. What do I have to talk about fashion? It turns out not a whole lot!

After months of creating content on all the different channels that I can get my hands on, my own blog, Instagram, Youtube and Medium. I wrote, took photos, published videos. I was not sure what the hell I was doing all this for. Creating content for the sake of creating content?

Guess what, the crazy thing happened today after months of tinkering! It just occurred to me photography is just a tool, a message, a channel. You use photography to say something, tell a story, spread a message, whatever. You don’t just do photography. The same thing can be said about fashion. We dress to say something. Our outfits are just another way of communication.

And this is what I am actually about!

1)Community and Emotional Support

I want to create a community and support people who need it emotionally. Despite the popularity of social media, we actually feel deeply alienated and alone. A lot of people have mental issues and different levels of depression. We need a community where we can lean on each other when we most need it. I will do what I can in my power to create this sense of community whether it is supporting people online or creating events in real life people can come together.

2) Empowerment and Motivation

This one is huge to me. In my life I have seen many little dreams of mine come true. I want to do the same for other people. Sometimes people just need a little encouragement, a little understanding, a little belief in themselves to push them just a little further. If we can just push a little further everyday, we would make it pretty far.

3) Racial Equality and Social Justice

Coming from a different country, I will always be big on racial equality and social justice. Culture is a fascinating subject to me. That was why I made a documentary on Native Americans. I think we really need to understand each other’s culture and history better, it would help us communicate. We are really not that different from each other, it doesn’t matter where you are from, what ethnicity you are. What’s really different is our culture conditioning.

So now I have a focus point. I can use my photography and fashion towards something. This is really like my journaling. Thanks for reading. I appreciate you in my journey! I really do!!

Photographer: Hannah Anisa