Missing TAF
Taiwanese American Foundation (TAF) is a summer camp that I have attended almost every year since the age of ten. It’s just one week, 200 Taiwanese American youth, and a small college campus in North Manchester Indiana. But of course, it provides an endless supply of life-changing experiences, memories, and relationships. In countless ways, TAF has shaped me to be the person I am today.
But after fifteen years of TAF, I missed it this year. I was here in California, working and photographing a wedding and doing this job that I absolutely love. I even felt that (dare I say it) I might have outgrown TAF a bit. But I was still a little heartbroken that I wasn’t there, and I checked every night for the daily recap videos (which were done in lightning speed and posted the same day by my Seaglass Cinema partner Kevin). I was especially sad to be missing out on the grand finale of the week when the auditorium lights go down and the slideshow comes on screen. This was the highlight of my week for the last couple years when I was part of the media team at TAF. Luckily for me, I checked the minute I got home, and the slideshow was already online and ready for viewing. For fifteen minutes, I sat in my bedroom and felt instant chills, laughed out loud, and maybe even shed a few tears. I was instantly transported to the sanctuary of TAF and I felt the heart of what it means to be a part of this community.
Favorite part: 13:27. “We are made for relationships. We are made to love and to be loved… it’s written in our hearts… The experience of being in a relationship and a community where you are accepted is such a powerful thing… That’s what we’re made for.”
This is the power of media. This is the essence of why we do photography and videography. To describe the indescribable. To capture the fleeting. To make you feel the intangible.
I am incredibly proud of my friends at TAF who helped to make these videos come to life. The daily recaps and the slideshow transported me not only over to North Manchester, Indiana, throughout this week, but also back through my fifteen years at TAF remembering all the little moments that have indelibly changed who I am. Thank you. Perhaps I will be back, TAF 2013.
Learn more about Taiwanese American Foundation (TAF).
Watch more tafmediachannel on Youtube.
I am a wedding photographer & videographer based in the San Francisco Bay area.
Follow me on facebook: annawuphoto & seaglasscinema.
