worth a lot, but mean so little. Take the latest phones for example. They're worth a lot, for sure, but do they really have any other meaning than just being a tool? Do they have a sentiment by themselves aside from being a simple product? I can say the same for photos. There are some photos that are just meaningless to me, unsentimental, "just photos, nothing more."

But there are a few from my gallery that mean a lot to me. They're more than just photos—they're experiences from a time long gone.

A Blurred Road

In college, this was an extremely memorable road for me. This road led to my college. It's the road I (along with my classmates) took in college on our first day. We didn't know where to go, so we took this one. It eventually became the road I traveled upon when going home from college sometimes. I would take this road (well, the opposite side) at night after playing games at this Internet cafe after class.

I took this road while I was going through my infamous depression. I didn't know which road I was going to take in life. I didn't know how to go back to college, I didn't know if the road ahead, trying to apply for work, was the right one. I was also alone during this photo so I literally just went outside to take a photo of some random road. Until now, it means a lot because I'll never forget how bad my depression was and how lost I felt during it.

A Sea of Opportunities

This was taken during my first-ever company outing. We had a vacation in some resort in the province and it was probably the first time I've ever seen the beach and wide sea in a long time.

What a weird day this was for me. I was just a 1-month-long employee in the company and, I'm not sure if you know this, but I am REALLY bad with names. I literally did not know anyone else aside from the boss, the HR person, the IT guy, and my coworker. That's 4 people out of 32 or something. But the good news was that I had a job, I had a chance. I had something going for me after feeling lost and purposeless for months. I had new people with me and a view that was far and wide—and that's all that mattered.

All Rays Lead To You

This one is the only photo in portrait. This photo was taken after our Physical Education (P.E.) class in college. I was supposed to go bowling with my classmates and the fun part was that we would group ourselves. Funny how the fun part turned out to be the reason that ruined it for me.

What I expected was that I'd be grouped with my dude friends. What turned out was that my dude friends already formed a group of themselves and included this one other jerk that was in their friend circle. I really tried to join their group but this one jerk kept pushing me away and said really despicable stuff. I tried joining other groups, but everyone was full by the time I tried joining them. So I couldn't find a group in the end. At this point, I really was getting sad because I personally hate being the outcast in a cohort.

So I just ran away from it all. I went to the counter of the bowling alley, got back my regular shoes, and went away. Luckily, the shoreline was just nearby so I just sat there until the afternoon. Mind you, I left the bowling alley before lunch. By this time, my friends had already gone out and ate at the seaside mall nearby and everyone went on their merry way.

I just spent my time on the shoreline, alone. It felt incredibly lonely being there. I can't say if I cried but I just sat there until the sun was starting to set. Then, as it was, a bridge of light manifested before me. A bridge of sunlight leading to the sun.

The sunlight was warm, comforting. It was strange to see the sun beam a direct bridge of light towards me. Being a natural skeptic, I wanted to move across the shoreline to see if the ray of light is just an illusion and if it forms at any angle. But I didn't bother. At the time, I saw something. It comforted me in such a hard time. I didn't want to ruin it by trying to doubt it, I was glad that it showed up at a point where I couldn't handle it anymore. I'm glad it was there.

The Classroom of an Era

This photo was taken on my last day of being a 1st year high school student. I was enrolled in this school since the 3rd grade and I had spent almost 8 years of my young life in rooms that looked similar to this one.

Sure, high school and elementary were all memorable years, but no single photo can be as nostalgic as this one. At first, I hated all these rooms, this one in particular. I hated my first year in high school because some new kid bullied me pretty hard. Which seemed odd to me, I knew almost everyone in my class and this weird bully shows up and makes fun of me all of the sudden, even though I was never bullied before.

Thankfully, that bully left after their first and only year in our school. They have a bad rep amongst my peers for trying to scam them for some fake medical illness. I'm just glad I fought back against them once and I'm still good friends with my closest high school buddies. To add to that, I ended up high school on an extremely good note.

A Fateful Field Trip

This was taken on the ride home of our field trip. I didn't know that this trip would change the course of my life for almost a decade to come, literally. I would make one choice, one small choice, that led to me meeting the most influential person of my life—Jean.

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'd be very familiar with that name. But to make things easy, Jean was the person I met in my first year of high school and was the topic of countless early-teen heartaches, cringy stories, and she was my closest friend ever.

Though it's irrelevant now as to how/why Jean and I separated, the photo still stands. I met her on the trip home. The bus had stopped at some duty-free store and they had Starbucks bottled coffee and a few sweets. I sat with my classmates but I know they didn't like the chocolates I bought. I already drank the coffee so I just gave the chocolates to whomever was sitting behind me on the ride.

I literally didn't know who sat behind me. It could've been anyone, literally anyone from the upper batch. Our bus was arranged alphabetically by last name. From the last few letters of the alphabet of the lower batch (the freshmen) in the first half, then the first few letters of the alphabet of the upper batch (the sophomores) at the second half. It could've been a teacher, some annoyed dude, a girl who would've felt awkward at someone giving random chocolates, or a tired and sleeping student. But it was someone who accepted and befriended me, Jean.

Looking back, I'm not even sure how Jean ended up there! I was supposed to have someone with their last name starting with the letter A or D sitting behind me. But Jean's last name starts with a G. She told me that she swapped seats because it was cold at her seat, but still, if she hadn't swapped or if I hadn't done that, I would've never met a lot of people and I would likely be more immature today.

It's pretty spooky because it shows how one choice can affect your life for years to come. If I didn't reach out to whoever was there, I would've never met her.

A Day I Wish Lasted Forever

Let's end this post with something more recent. This was taken during my second (and, so far, my last) company outing in 2019, at the same company as the first one in this post.

The day before, I had an emotional problem (that's too long for this post) and my coworkers really helped me sort it out. I believe that was the first day of the trip and this was the second one. On that day, it was all sun, shine, and smiles. We had various activities that involved us going out to the sea.

If it wasn't extremely obvious by now, I love the sea. I mean, this blog's name is named after a sea(-gull). And there's 3 photos here about the sea. But anyway, I was pretty happy here and took a photo of the shore. I was extremely familiar with my coworkers at this point as 1 year had passed. In the first summer outing photo, I was on land taking a photo of the sea. In the second one, I was on the sea taking a photo of the land. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, but I'll leave it up for interpretation.

This is the only photo which had an "alternate version," a photo with the same title but I replaced it with this one. The original photo is on my Instagram and it had my (along with my coworkers') faces. It was a group photo of the company employees just having a fun time lying around in the shade. I love that photo so much but I sadly cannot share it here.

I was also talking to my closest friend in the company in that other photo and it's just pretty sad I couldn't include them here in a photo. Oh well, I guess this photo shall do.

...

These photos are more than just "beautiful moments" to me, they're all wonderful experiences of my life and have my deepest emotions. Thankfully, all of the photos I wanted to share were pretty positive in their sentiments. I thought that, by looking back at the photos I had randomly taken, I would see some painful thing I've been trying to hide, or some other thing.

I'm just glad right now, looking back at these. To be honest with you, I would've added more. This was supposed to be a collage, but I got too carried away with telling the backstories behind them. I hope you liked at least one of them, my happy west coast friend. I also hope it's of the sea, but the other photos seem to look cool as well.

Maybe I'll take new photos of the sea and show it here someday.

" >
Thoughts

Photos That Mean a Thousand Words

Dartegnian Velarde

8 min read
Photos That Mean a Thousand Words
Photo by Romina BM / Unsplash

There's a popular saying that goes: "A picture is worth a thousand words." While I believe in it, I personally think that something can be worth a lot, but mean so little. Take the latest phones for example. They're worth a lot, for sure, but do they really have any other meaning than just being a tool? Do they have a sentiment by themselves aside from being a simple product? I can say the same for photos. There are some photos that are just meaningless to me, unsentimental, "just photos, nothing more."

But there are a few from my gallery that mean a lot to me. They're more than just photos—they're experiences from a time long gone.

A Blurred Road

In college, this was an extremely memorable road for me. This road led to my college. It's the road I (along with my classmates) took in college on our first day. We didn't know where to go, so we took this one. It eventually became the road I traveled upon when going home from college sometimes. I would take this road (well, the opposite side) at night after playing games at this Internet cafe after class.

I took this road while I was going through my infamous depression. I didn't know which road I was going to take in life. I didn't know how to go back to college, I didn't know if the road ahead, trying to apply for work, was the right one. I was also alone during this photo so I literally just went outside to take a photo of some random road. Until now, it means a lot because I'll never forget how bad my depression was and how lost I felt during it.

A Sea of Opportunities

This was taken during my first-ever company outing. We had a vacation in some resort in the province and it was probably the first time I've ever seen the beach and wide sea in a long time.

What a weird day this was for me. I was just a 1-month-long employee in the company and, I'm not sure if you know this, but I am REALLY bad with names. I literally did not know anyone else aside from the boss, the HR person, the IT guy, and my coworker. That's 4 people out of 32 or something. But the good news was that I had a job, I had a chance. I had something going for me after feeling lost and purposeless for months. I had new people with me and a view that was far and wide—and that's all that mattered.

All Rays Lead To You

This one is the only photo in portrait. This photo was taken after our Physical Education (P.E.) class in college. I was supposed to go bowling with my classmates and the fun part was that we would group ourselves. Funny how the fun part turned out to be the reason that ruined it for me.

What I expected was that I'd be grouped with my dude friends. What turned out was that my dude friends already formed a group of themselves and included this one other jerk that was in their friend circle. I really tried to join their group but this one jerk kept pushing me away and said really despicable stuff. I tried joining other groups, but everyone was full by the time I tried joining them. So I couldn't find a group in the end. At this point, I really was getting sad because I personally hate being the outcast in a cohort.

So I just ran away from it all. I went to the counter of the bowling alley, got back my regular shoes, and went away. Luckily, the shoreline was just nearby so I just sat there until the afternoon. Mind you, I left the bowling alley before lunch. By this time, my friends had already gone out and ate at the seaside mall nearby and everyone went on their merry way.

I just spent my time on the shoreline, alone. It felt incredibly lonely being there. I can't say if I cried but I just sat there until the sun was starting to set. Then, as it was, a bridge of light manifested before me. A bridge of sunlight leading to the sun.

The sunlight was warm, comforting. It was strange to see the sun beam a direct bridge of light towards me. Being a natural skeptic, I wanted to move across the shoreline to see if the ray of light is just an illusion and if it forms at any angle. But I didn't bother. At the time, I saw something. It comforted me in such a hard time. I didn't want to ruin it by trying to doubt it, I was glad that it showed up at a point where I couldn't handle it anymore. I'm glad it was there.

The Classroom of an Era

This photo was taken on my last day of being a 1st year high school student. I was enrolled in this school since the 3rd grade and I had spent almost 8 years of my young life in rooms that looked similar to this one.

Sure, high school and elementary were all memorable years, but no single photo can be as nostalgic as this one. At first, I hated all these rooms, this one in particular. I hated my first year in high school because some new kid bullied me pretty hard. Which seemed odd to me, I knew almost everyone in my class and this weird bully shows up and makes fun of me all of the sudden, even though I was never bullied before.

Thankfully, that bully left after their first and only year in our school. They have a bad rep amongst my peers for trying to scam them for some fake medical illness. I'm just glad I fought back against them once and I'm still good friends with my closest high school buddies. To add to that, I ended up high school on an extremely good note.

A Fateful Field Trip

This was taken on the ride home of our field trip. I didn't know that this trip would change the course of my life for almost a decade to come, literally. I would make one choice, one small choice, that led to me meeting the most influential person of my life—Jean.

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'd be very familiar with that name. But to make things easy, Jean was the person I met in my first year of high school and was the topic of countless early-teen heartaches, cringy stories, and she was my closest friend ever.

Though it's irrelevant now as to how/why Jean and I separated, the photo still stands. I met her on the trip home. The bus had stopped at some duty-free store and they had Starbucks bottled coffee and a few sweets. I sat with my classmates but I know they didn't like the chocolates I bought. I already drank the coffee so I just gave the chocolates to whomever was sitting behind me on the ride.

I literally didn't know who sat behind me. It could've been anyone, literally anyone from the upper batch. Our bus was arranged alphabetically by last name. From the last few letters of the alphabet of the lower batch (the freshmen) in the first half, then the first few letters of the alphabet of the upper batch (the sophomores) at the second half. It could've been a teacher, some annoyed dude, a girl who would've felt awkward at someone giving random chocolates, or a tired and sleeping student. But it was someone who accepted and befriended me, Jean.

Looking back, I'm not even sure how Jean ended up there! I was supposed to have someone with their last name starting with the letter A or D sitting behind me. But Jean's last name starts with a G. She told me that she swapped seats because it was cold at her seat, but still, if she hadn't swapped or if I hadn't done that, I would've never met a lot of people and I would likely be more immature today.

It's pretty spooky because it shows how one choice can affect your life for years to come. If I didn't reach out to whoever was there, I would've never met her.

A Day I Wish Lasted Forever

Let's end this post with something more recent. This was taken during my second (and, so far, my last) company outing in 2019, at the same company as the first one in this post.

The day before, I had an emotional problem (that's too long for this post) and my coworkers really helped me sort it out. I believe that was the first day of the trip and this was the second one. On that day, it was all sun, shine, and smiles. We had various activities that involved us going out to the sea.

If it wasn't extremely obvious by now, I love the sea. I mean, this blog's name is named after a sea(-gull). And there's 3 photos here about the sea. But anyway, I was pretty happy here and took a photo of the shore. I was extremely familiar with my coworkers at this point as 1 year had passed. In the first summer outing photo, I was on land taking a photo of the sea. In the second one, I was on the sea taking a photo of the land. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, but I'll leave it up for interpretation.

This is the only photo which had an "alternate version," a photo with the same title but I replaced it with this one. The original photo is on my Instagram and it had my (along with my coworkers') faces. It was a group photo of the company employees just having a fun time lying around in the shade. I love that photo so much but I sadly cannot share it here.

I was also talking to my closest friend in the company in that other photo and it's just pretty sad I couldn't include them here in a photo. Oh well, I guess this photo shall do.

...

These photos are more than just "beautiful moments" to me, they're all wonderful experiences of my life and have my deepest emotions. Thankfully, all of the photos I wanted to share were pretty positive in their sentiments. I thought that, by looking back at the photos I had randomly taken, I would see some painful thing I've been trying to hide, or some other thing.

I'm just glad right now, looking back at these. To be honest with you, I would've added more. This was supposed to be a collage, but I got too carried away with telling the backstories behind them. I hope you liked at least one of them, my happy west coast friend. I also hope it's of the sea, but the other photos seem to look cool as well.

Maybe I'll take new photos of the sea and show it here someday.