from the desk of elena hsieh - Portraits of Berkeley

Portraits of Berkeley (POB)

a snapshot of the people of UC Berkeley from 2024-2025

"after all, life is a mosaic of memories, and I want to live each one, one piece at a time. by graduation, I want to walk away from Berkeley a richer individual: not in material wealth nor solely academic gain, but in experiences and wisdom-- and enough stories to last a lifetime" -elena

a quick q&a!

"elena, why this project?"

1) to improve my people skills: as a hardcore introvert, I could really use some work on approaching strangers and carrying on conversations without the blatant awkwardness lmao

2) to meet more people: it’s my senior year, I want to connect with the university and its people more deeply and form connections based on meaningful interactions

3) to build my portfolio: I could always practice photographing more people, especially ones that aren’t posed since I love the candid/natural shots!

"what has held you back from doing this project earlier?"

1) it's a lot of time commitment --> filming, editing, developing, and emailing takes a lot of time, but it's worth it!

2) money --> initially, I only planned on doing digital photos, but i really wanted to include the film shots because most people haven't been shot on a 50-year-old film camera and i think it's kind of cool getting to connect with people through a rather old yet soulful medium. but that also means I gotta buy medium format film and develop/scan the rolls (rip my bank account), but i think including film makes the interaction more memorable... so, it's worth it!

3) i could absolutely fail and embarrass myself --> yeah well that lowkey already happens on the daily soooo

in all of seriousness, one of the life mottos i want to live by this year is to "do things scared". i want to lean into the discomfort, because i truly believe that the only way to grow is to chase the unfamiliar. it's my senior year, and i told myself that if there was one more thing i could gift myself, it would be the soft skill of effective communication; but it's not a going to be gifted to me, like a diploma handed over at graduation-- I would have to earn it. So that's what I'm attempting to do, throwing myself into uncomfy situations hoping that I’ll come out a bit less terrified of exchanging conversations.

"what do you hope to get across in this project?"

to inspire people to be more present in their short years at Cal and to share stories that would otherwise go unheard. there's also just something so fulfilling about making someone feel seen and heard that pulls me back to film more episodes.

"can I be featured in this project?"

Yes! Fill out the interest form in my bio, or dm me and I'll let you know when/where I'm filming that week. as a good rule of thumb, it'll usually be fridays and saturdays at golden hour!

"can I suggest questions that you ask in the interviews?"

absolutely! all submissions in this form in my bio are anonymous : )

photos in series below, video episodes are on my IG page (@elenaspocketpictures)

Ep. 1: Megan & Autumn, the Friends on Sproul (08.27.2024)