Photographs and Words by Sirui Ma
I often describe my project, Little Things Mean a Lot, as a self portrait; as different parts of myself reflected in the images of the women around me. Subconsciously, I’m always looking for traces of myself in the people I photograph—that’s how I connect to them and convey feelings through my work. As an only child who grew up in many different places, living in a country with no blood relatives could’ve been an incredibly daunting and isolating experience were it not for my friends, who became my chosen family and my community.
In Little Things Mean a Lot, which was shot over the span of about a year, I was able to explore my connections to my friends and my surroundings as I made London my home. As I began to anchor myself in one place for the first time, I examined life’s minutiae, capturing the small ways in which I find joy and beauty in this vast city. In these photos I see myself in all beings—both human and nonhuman—around me, and in doing so, I’m announcing that I’m finally home.
Finding Joy in the Little Things