CHAPTER 02: The project

I was half-running to school as I shoved a sandwich in my mouth while I tried my best to call my friend Hwayoung telling her I’ll be late for my first class this morning, it just had to be our first lesson with Mr. Belikov. Belikov was our new teacher in digital photography that had moved to Seoul from Canada. I assumed the class had already started because Hwayoung didn’t answered my call, which meant that he started the class two minutes earlier than he should have. ‘Bastard’ I thought and rushed down the stairs to the building. Four minutes later I opened the door to the classroom and glanced at my new teacher.

He was in the middle of writing down something on the big white board and a smile grew on his lips. His hair was dark brown and some greasy locks of hair laid on his forehead and his eyes looked witty. He was really tall, almost 2 meters I would've guessed and he was wearing thick dark brown glasses, a deep green colored shirt and black jeans. He really looked like a teacher - a foreign one.

“You’re two minutes late, miss....” He turned to the desk and leafed through his papers for the class list and found me directly.

“Oh Jihye.” He sighed deeply and waved my hand in a way of telling me to take whatever seat that was empty. “I’m not going to report it, but make sure you’re not late next time, okay?” He said and I bowed slightly. "And don't forget to close the door behind you!"

I was a bit startled but shut the door behind me before sitting down on the third row. First, I was thinking of finding Hwayoung but I realised it would be impossible and he would probably not be pleased with it either.

Instead, I took up my books and pencil case, ready to write down whatever our new teacher was writing down on the whitebord. I must have missed something important because I fell in a confusion when he started talking about videos but calmed down a little when he went on talking about how you capture the interest of the audience. Still, I was pretty sure this was our photographing class. I would've chosen film as my major if I wanted to produce films but I was here for another reason; to take pictures. Not creating movies.

“Since I already know you’re supposed to bring your own portfolio with pictures from when you started college, I’ve discussed with my new colleagues and we decided that not only should you produce your own portfolio but also a short inspiring film. It should be a personal subject and it does not have to be longer than 10 minutes.”

A film? Was he kidding with us? I turned around and was surprised I heard less complaints than I thought I would have. Some even looked excited and happy. And what did he mean by personal?

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