A bimonthly storytelling by OPE Magazine where photography is the language.
This series reflects on the quiet expansion that happens inside a child's mind — that irreversible moment when curiosity stretches perception and the world suddenly grows larger.
The story begins with stillness: a child gazing beyond the window, where reflection becomes imagination. A leaf lifted to the light turns into a small discovery — the first spark of understanding that the simplest things can hold infinite meaning. Then comes the encounter with brightness, where his shadow lengthens and thought begins to travel beyond the visible.
In the final image, branches merge with his gaze in a double exposure, suggesting that once a mind opens to new ideas, it never returns to its former shape. The outside world and his inner world blend, revealing that learning is not just absorbing — it’s transforming.
Through these photographs, I seek to portray that invisible threshold where perception widens, and a young mind quietly becomes infinite.
The first three images were created in natural morning light, around 7 a.m., on a cold day when the school parking lot was still empty. The light was strong and sharp, yet fleeting — and I wanted to hold onto that silence. I photographed everything in manual mode, in black and white, underexposing intentionally to preserve the mood and let the shadows speak. I’ve always been drawn to darkness — not as absence, but as depth; a space where distractions fade and emotion breathes. The images were later edited in Lightroom, where I enhanced the grain to echo the feeling of old analog photographs — imperfect, tactile, alive.
The last frame stands apart: a double exposure, cropped until it felt balanced, and finished in Snapseed. I chose to let this one glow a little brighter, almost overexposed, as if the light itself were expanding — a quiet metaphor for a mind in motion, opening to new worlds.
(ES)
Primera imagen: La elegí quizás por su misterio. Todo parece destruido y en ruinas, su mirada resulta enigmática: ¿se esconde en la oscuridad o ve la luz? Se siente oscura y esperanzadora al mismo tiempo.
Segunda imagen: Continúa con la sensación distópica, la forma de la parte trasera de la estatua también funciona con la forma de la primera imagen.
Tercera imagen: Continúa lo distópico. Las estatuas parecen un recuerdo de una civilización perdida.
Cuarta imagen: Termina la serie de manera agridulce. Mucha añoranza de lo que fue.
(EN)
First image: I chose it perhaps for its mystery. Everything seems destroyed and in ruins, his gaze is enigmatic: is he hiding in the darkness, or does he see the light? It feels both dark and hopeful at the same time.
Second image: It continues the dystopian feeling, and the shape of the back of the statue also works with the shape of the first image.
Third image: The dystopian mood continues. The statues feel like a memory of a lost civilization.
Fourth image: The series ends bittersweetly. A deep longing for what once was.
A series about Cuban/Foreign Couples photographed in their home in Havana.
Kurdish cultural identity has been under attack for over 100 years, ever since 1916 when Kurdistan was split among the countries of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria by European powers. The Shadows of Kurdistan photographic project seeks to explore the dimensions and depth of Kurdish culture and their political situation, where there is a civil war in three of the four countries. It seeks to illuminate what can be lost without peace, but also to show that war is not only part of the Kurdish experience, and that there is still a full life and vibrant culture.
All Kurdish communities have undergone assimilation; we have not been allowed to live our culture freely and learn our language or history. This project seeks to help discover the common human cultural identity of the Kurdish people. An additional goal of this project is underscoring the importance of respecting all cultural identities, not to divide us, but to foster understanding among people.
The thirty million Kurds have not seen much peace over the century since partition, for us Kurds the peace is like the story in the book by Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot. But in the background of war, there is a strong and deep heritage. These images capture the culture, daily life, political situation and landscapes of Kurdistan. The project has taken a slow journalism approach to photography, staying in the areas and going deep into the nuances of the situation for each community.
Human history can be told in many different ways; with this project, my goal is to show and talk about Kurdistan by photography.
The following pictures are a selection of 4 vertical images from my project “Cuban Landscape” a compilation ment to show the struggles of cubans from Jung to old.
This long-term collaborative documentary project offers a deeply personal
perspective on the lives of three teenage girls who fled the war in Ukraine in
early 2022, arriving in the UK with their mothers.
In unfamiliar surroundings, they face the ongoing challenge of rebuilding their lives in
a foreign land while quietly navigating resilience amid the universal struggles of
adolescence — the need to be seen, understood, and accepted.
This project is not merely a documentation; it is a collaboration. The girls often
suggest the frames, poses, costumes, and styling themselves. They want to look like
any other teenagers — to create beautiful, expressive images that reflect how they
wish to be perceived. They are full of life and inner beauty, they are playful and
engaged. But the weight of the situation back home always drags behind.
The enigmatic character of their inner worlds is hidden behind cinematic
compositions and the luminous beauty of youth — reminding us that the heaviest
burdens are often carried behind a smile.
Together with me, they tell their stories as partners in the project, offering an honest,
intimate view of adaptation, courage, and resilience.
In this edit, I’ve included an image of Antony Gormley’s statue that stands on the
English shore not far from where we live. This solitary figure faces Europe,
submerged by the high tide twice a day. His quiet melancholy reflects the ever-
present longing for a home left behind in war.