Elite business schools draw top talent from around the globe. On campus, these students are perpetually “on,” striving to impress and embody the epitome of success. During my time at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, I was drawn to explore my classmates’ less glamorous, more vulnerable sides, and foster a deeper, more genuine connection with them.
As we navigate life, we often build layers and walls, allowing cynicism and perceived professionalism to stifle our emotional expression, men more so than women.
We are trained to show our upside; Smiling. Posing. Posting.
It's harder to see what's sometimes underneath; Tired. Afraid. Alone. Bored. Off.
The camera gave me the reason. The excuse. The courage to ask the hard questions. To get closer. To take an extreme close up into a person's eye.
But once we started, the camera stood aside, and we got closer and closer. Pace goes down. Distance decreases. Trust and intimacy are formed. The camera is almost forgotten.
I'm in their home. Their room. Their private space, and they gladly open the door. In daylight.
They show up. Fully, to the picture.
Relaxed. Safe. Something real emerges.
And all I had to do is: Ask.
I saw a small piece of me in everyone.
A hidden side, less glamorous and less fun, but very real.
Vulnerable. Confident.
I loved what I saw.
