…in a Hong Kong elementary school…
When I came to Switzerland, I took some photos of my parents with me. This one is among my favourite photographs of my father—taken when he must have been roughly 13. I imagine him sitting for the picture under a reflective umbrella in a stuffy gymnasium full of excited and chatty children, all wearing their pressed 1960s school uniforms. In the photograph, like in this pencil + ink portrait, he is looking slightly away and off to the side. I imagine a goofy classmate standing in the picture-taking queue making silly faces, and I interpret this side-long glance as my father’s best attempt at holding a pokerface. This photograph is also perhaps the first time (never to be repeated?) I have seen him wearing a skinny tie.
Just some reflections for the back-to-school season. Happy September, kids!