Hi, everyone! My name is Dorothy Wong. I am 38 and I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I have lived most of my life actually in Vancouver, British Columbia, but I have moved around a lot within Canada itself when I was young. So, if you ever wonder or want to know more about Canada, feel free to ask me! I’ll be happy to tell you more in my classes at Linnies!
Hmm, what to write? Well, rhetorically I will answer the question myself. Haha! Anyway, so I moved to Japan a year ago and lived in Kanuma. There I worked at a private English school too. Recently, I just moved into Utsonomiya, which is the city next to Kanuma in Tochigi Prefecture! This past year in Japan has had it’s ups and downs, but I survived it and enjoy my time here. I have grown to love Japan even more than before. To be honest, I fell in love with Japan back in the days (high school time) and my dream came true last year, when a job opening opened up in Japan for me to move here and teach English! My two main passionate jobs are: Teaching English and Photography.
As a teacher, I love to see my students grow and being able to make a difference in their lives! At my last school, I know I made a difference in all my students that I had taught, and I do hope to do the same with the students that I teach here too.
My favorite quotes as a teacher:
“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” – Unknown Author
“Practice makes progress, not perfect.” – Unknown Author
“To teach is to learn twice over.” Quoted by Joseph Joubert
As a professional photographer, I love to take many types of photos! From Engagements, Weddings, Maternity to Special Events to Fashion Shows, Model shoots and of course Nature (landscape) and architectural shoots too! Yes, my range of photography skills are wide & grand. Plus, wherever I go, I always tend to have my DSLR on me. If not, then of course I have my Samsung S7 cellphone camera on-hand to capture those special moments that come my way. My business motto: “Let me show you the world in a different perspective.” This motto still holds true today for me as a professional photographer, as everyday, even if you have seen something before or you have been somewhere before…there’s always a different perspective that comes out of it each time you go there. No matter how many times you visit a place, there’s never a dull moment or “nothing to be captured”, but in fact there are many things you can capture if you look hard enough for it. I know I can and one phrase I live by: “A picture is worth a thousand words”, it can inspire you and allow the creativity side in you to flow better. If you want to see my photography work, feel free to look me up on Facebook or Instagram. My photography Facebook page is under the name: Everlasting Blessings Photography and my Instagram account is: dwong2010. There isn’t a moment in my life where I haven’t captured it on camera. The best part of being a photographer at the same time as a teacher, is a lot of time I get to share my photos with my students. Especially the ones I have taught in my previous school. They loved them a lot and I inspired many to become better photographers as well as challenge them to see more of Japan through the lens of a camera.
My favorite quotes as a photographer:
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” - Aaron Siskind
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” - Elliott Erwitt
“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.” - Irving Penn
Therefore, to summarize, every photographer has their own style and ways of taking a photo. No one photo taken at one location will look exactly the same. Each person can see a different perspective of the “moment” they are in, and this goes hand-in-hand as a teacher too. Not every teacher has the same teaching style as the other teachers in a school. So, how you teach and how you capture a photo will be entirely different from someone else, just as we all are. We are all unique and different from each other. Even if you are a biological twin/triplet/quadruplet etc., your personalities, personal preferences and so on… aren’t the same either. So, how can a photo captured by one person be exactly the same as the next person who captures it? It can’t. No matter how hard you try, that particular moment isn’t the same. Trust me, you may see some similarities but not every part of it is exactly the same.
Anyway, I will leave with you some of the pictures that I have captured in Japan and elsewhere in the world. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing your feedback on this…plus meet you too, as a teacher, to help you learn English together.
Winter Sunset at Garry Point Park in Steveston, British Columbia, Canada
Autumn season at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sandy Beach in Oahu, Hawaii - Halona Blow Hole (Taken 2014)
Tokyo Midtown Illumination – Cherry Blossoms time 2018 – Long Exposure
Spring 2018 - Cherry Blossoms in Kanuma area
Dorothy