Lili | USA
Lili is a Change Manager by profession, but her heartfelt words and images give us a peek into her artful mind.
Read Lili’s inspiring words below, accompanied by photographs from her global photography series Working People.
How did you first get into photography?
I was in my early twenties. My spirit felt damp and heavy as clothes drenched in a relentless downpour. My thoughts were an active hurricane. I borrowed someone’s camera and taught myself from scratch. It became my shelter during that soul-wrenching storm.
That camera stopped time and it stopped the storm. I remember the exact moment the first day trying to figure out the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO while manually focusing on a bee buzzing by a daisy. It was the first time in a long, long time that I was there, in my body, not running scenarios in my head, not grieving past experiences. I was present. This moment of peace - that's what I craved, that's what I sought.
The camera was a tool for carving space for healing. It forced me to slow down, to listen, to gain clarity and to notice. It was a light guiding me out of that personal hurricane.
What subjects or themes do you most enjoy photographing and why?
The camera stops time. I stop with it. Because it heals.
I love capturing a pause, a detail, a feeling or a moment that we usually rush through. It's not just about the image; it's about arriving fully in the present moment, seeing and accepting what unfolds without judgment.
Reflecting on it now, I suppose it all goes back to that feeling that got me into photography. Presence. Over the last year, I have undertaken intense life changes that pushed me to question my worthiness, my confidence and the core layers of my identity. And again, I subconsciously relied on photography to be that guiding light as I was searching for wisdom, clarity and strength. This journey is captured in my current exhibition called Spring Whispers.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned through photography?
You are allowed to do it because it’s fun. Because it brings you joy. Because you want to. Because an idea popped into your head.
You have permission to not be good, to not get better, to not be popular, to not be impressive. You have permission to do it for you, to move at your pace, to express that one feeling that is stuck in your stomach. You are allowed to share your art without it being polished or to keep it private because you don’t want to reveal that side of yourself just yet. You are allowed to try to get better, too, and still feel behind.
Art is available to you now. You and your art are worthy of being seen.
