Paul Yem, a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, is a silent observer. Often uses photography as a metaphor for internal quandaries. Projecting his dilemma outwards onto his subjects, the medium becomes a meditation for him. Creative production is his only sense of purpose. Old soul, also sometimes talks in the third person.
Sunday Driver
The cars are what drew me there, the people make me come back.
True passion is fascinating, it’s unique. Obsession will take your life over. Drag racers are the personification of this genuine experience. Sometimes I feel that America lacks culture, but being at the drag strip opened my eyes to what real American culture is.
Here’s a thought:
“The Americans we are,
built faster, stronger, better.
custom – one of a kind
not the one percent but the ninety-nine,
a brotherhood
we are real people, we are the definition of passion.
I’d die for first, because there is no second.”
Imagine them during the week, at their shit job, eating their shit lunch, thinking about Sunday, thinking about when they can get back to the thing that they love. They have an honesty with themselves, that they sacrifice the majority of their time to do this one thing, this meaningless thing, and I will forever love them for that.
They are all quarantined with the sickness of obsession, at the track, alone together.
So buckle up and let the things that drive you, drive you.
To view more of Paul’s work please visit his website.