Literary Journal for Young Writers
Last Stop was taken during a spontaneous evening visit to Brighton Beach. And Blue Marble happened to be taken in the backyard of a cafe by the same name.
Lily Ma is a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and finds herself inspired by just about everything around her. She wants to inspire others—to live her life knowing that she had an impact—and encourage others to do so too.
These photos of downtown Chicago were shot last spring on 120 film with a medium format Holga camera. Despite the growing appeal of attaining quick, edited perfection through digital photography—especially in this increasingly technological age—I’ve always had a preference for film. I find that analog photography fosters a sense of authenticity that is easily lost when working digitally. Every photo shot on film, characterized by its own light leaks, vignette, and natural grain, is entirely inimitable.
Emily Lu is currently a junior at New Trier High School. Her work has previously appeared in BALLOONS Literary Journal, Paper Swans Press, and Rare Byrd Review, among others.
“Away,” (which can also be thought of as “A way”) is a view over an Amsterdam canal. Though based on a real trip, it feels like a dreamy memory to me. I was inspired by the places we associate with love and happiness, and also how we tend to idealize them. I think about time a lot, so by preserving a moment like this one in Amsterdam, I feel at peace.
Francesca Lewis is a high school senior from New Haven, Connecticut. She has also spent much of her life in Frankfurt, Germany. She is interested in the humanities, anthropology, writing, visual art, and music. Her goals are to find balance between her two homes, blend her interests with her creativity, and help the people around her.
My creative process has a lot to do with how I’m feeling. I love to get excited about painting. This happens when I listen to a song that makes me feel inspired (at the moment it’s Roslyn by St. Vincent and Bon Iver) or when I watch an inspiring movie/ or just have a good day. I then look at pictures of nature – usually flowers and mainly peonies. I sketch out my picture, and with this particular painting I started with the background, then the leaves and flower. Then I outline everything with fine liner.
Shannon is a freckled, blue eyed South African now living in Saudi Arabia. Art has been in her life since she was a small girl; it’s a part of her. There is no other way to describe the feeling of creating something on paper with just a paintbrush and paints.
Eline has always had a passion for photography and loves spending time outside, looking for new places where she can take pictures. She is from Norway, and most of her pictures are from the winter, but when she came down to Florida to live for a year, she quickly noticed all of the beautiful places there. She took this picture at a butterfly garden in Gainesville.
These two pictures were taken in a restaurant in New York during Mardi Gras. A jazz band came in–and I’m a huge jazz fan–so I couldn’t help but take pictures. While I was trying to find a better view of the musicians, I found myself looking at the girl in the other picture– and there was something about her that was almost magical. I really like Midnight Blur because it represents the exhausted buzz of being up late, and reality becomes fuzzy, and anything could happen.
Francesca has bouncy red hair, a cat named Raspberry, and never matches her socks. She likes to notice things that other people don’t see. Sometimes she cannot control it, like noticing someone across the room biting their nails and not being able to stop, or hearing the slight clicking sound of their teeth for an hour. Other times, she picks up worms from the pavement after it rains so they don’t get stepped on. And yet other times, she finds wonderful and beautiful things to capture in photography.