Storytelling

This weekend, I decided to go to my local festival, the Camellia Festival. I went during a time that it was not open, which explains the deserted look.

Like many festivals, the iconic ferris wheel was planted right in the center of all the attractions. Although it looks slightly worn out, it has been a staple piece to this Temple City festival for as long as I can remember.

I remember this ride as the Dragon Boat from my childhood, but it has since changed to this look since then. It is interesting to think that the newer generation will have no idea why mine was a Dragon theme, just like how I have no idea why it is this theme now.

Photographed is another oldie but a goodie ride at the Camellia Festival! It felt amazing to feel the breeze and overlook the different rides and the rest of the city. This was another go-to ride from my childhood, even though it is very simple.

Looking before the rides in the background, the street holds a lot of memories for me. I would annually march down this exact street, past the fun rides, as I finished representing my city in our middle school and then high school marching band. I remember being tired from the march, as this was the view towards the end of it, and looked forward to hanging out with my friends at the Camellia Festival once we changed into regular clothes.

Photographed is one of many game booths at the Camellia Festival. The prizes stayed relatively similar; i specially remember playing with the inflatable hammer. Although I have won many of these prizes over the years, I still find myself wanting to play year after year.

These food booths were my favorite place to go when I was feeling hungry or thirsty. The special part about these booths are they they are run by some of the youth organizations in Temple City, such as boy scouts, girl scouts, and the high school sports team. It was great being able to support my local organizations while also being refreshed and energized after a long day.

I chose this story because I had gone back home for the weekend and the Camellia Festival is an annual festival in my hometown. This represents a lot of the fun times from my childhood before moving out to Long Beach.

I think that I perfectly told a story that was small, local, and personal to me. Not many people are familiar with Temple City, as it is such a small area in San Gabriel Valley. But to me, my earliest childhood memories and closest friends were made here. Despite where I end up going in life, this small city will always feel like home to me.

My favorite image would have to be of the ferris wheel at the Camellia Festival. In the photo, I could easily see how worn out and used it has been. This reminds me of the many years that this ferris wheel has been in use and provided me with countless emotions and memories as a child. Although one may claim it as dirty, I feel like it is filled with memories that I would not trade for the world.

My 4th image would most likely have no significance to people that did not personally know me. It would have just appeared as though I was taking a wider shot of the rides at the Camellia Festival, but it was the street and pavement that I wanted to focus on. I remember feeling so tempted to just drop my instrument and go on the fun rides with the other children. But, I never did that because that would definitely not have been good with my instructors.

Next time, I would go take pictures when the festival was actually open, so that I could capture some of the happy faces I saw later. Without people and the weather being oddly gloomy, the pictures appear slightly eerie to me. This was definitely not my intentions, but it was also perfect for reminiscing about my childhood experiences.

I enjoyed telling Photo stories of events that have had a great impact on my childhood. When there are other memorable events happening, I will be sure to take photos and reminisce of what has happened and what is to come.