Binoculars, according to research, give the viewer an impression of depth, magnifying their vision. Stemming from the invention of the telescope in the 17th century, Galilean optics were the first to serve the material and design for the binoculars by using a convex objective and a concave eyepiece lens. The uses of binoculars include: hunting, marine observation, military tasks such as measuring and aiming, tourist attractions, bird watching, geographical planning and the same principle has been adopted for opera glasses.

I remember my father always had a pair of binoculars with him and often let me look through them to spot some creature he had seen far away or a bird of prey swooping through the sky. Since my vision was never particularly sharp, or I just didn’t focus them correctly, I remember seeing things as blown-up blurry shapes.

When I began taking photographs, I was instantly reminded of my father and his various pairs of binoculars and perhaps that’s why I affiliated myself so well with photography, because my perception changed. This is also how I approach photography at times, like a hunter, I am roaming the land with my binoculars, only mine can record things. 

My father has two pairs: one doesn’t work, and the other pair can zoom up to twenty times. He will always have them with him so he can identify things, such as a plane passing by. He doesn’t go anywhere without his binoculars, as I never leave my camera behind. The idea of focusing on one slim slice of the world is what continually draws me into photography – the fact that I can create a composition and segregate it from the rest of the world – and this is when I am mostly reminded that I am my fathers daughter, only with a different tool.