The #OutsideMyWindow Mission challenge concludes with a bang. If you miss travelling, checking out these shots could just cure your wanderlust.
July is in full swing and in many places, the sun is now shining at its brightest.
In any other year, this would be the perfect time to head outdoors, book a trip, and hop on a flight to the nearest tropical beach around. Our Instagram feed would be packed with shots of powdery sand, azure-blue water, or beautiful views from remote places on earth. But this year, everything changes.
Surya Sriyama & Himaya Lin/PIXERF
Instead of spending our days under the sun, many of us are sheltering in our houses. While residents in some cities are slowly returning to offices and restaurants are accepting dine-in orders again, leisure travel as we know it is still out of the question. Our world is limited to the scenery that greets us from our bedroom and the social media feed scrolling through our smartphone screens.
But what if we can look through someone else’s eyes instead? What if we can witness the same views that our neighbours, friends and strangers are seeing every day, thousands or even millions of miles away? This idea was the starting point for the first challenge in PIXERF’s #StayHomeStayCreative challenge.
Jun Sin/PIXERF
The prompt is simple. So simple, anyone could do it. Because no matter which part of the world we call our home, or what awaits us when we open our curtains to greet the morning sun, we all have something in common. A view outside our window. Just as photographers would frame the world through their viewfinders, this challenge invites creators to use the frame of their window as a device to show us a glimpse of their lives.
At first, we didn’t know what to expect. But as submissions poured in from creators in Asia and beyond, we found ourselves moved, inspired, and blown away.
Here’s what we’ve seen from the 315 submissions we received.
Muhamad Abdul Ghofur, Vijay Richhiya, Yi Xian Ng, Justin Lee, Jia Le & CK NG/PIXERF
Major cities and small towns. Glass-fronted skyscrapers and humble shacks. Busy road arteries and emerald-green jungles. Planes gliding on a tarmac and railway tracks touching the horizon. Shirts hanging on a clothesline and streets painted with murals. Raindrops racing on the windowpane of a moving car. And up above, an oval frame reveals pale white clouds.
Muhammad Cahayadi Ramadhan/PIXERF
Swee Meng Seow/PIXERF
Muhammad Iqbal/PIXERF
Heru Sutanto & Eri Yulianto/PIXERF
Full of unexpected details, these submissions speak volumes about the diversity of our stories – and the common grounds that bind us together. Like our fascination with sky shots, natural landscapes and impressive buildings. And of course, the occasional friendly animals who are willing to stay still for our shots.
Which is fitting. After all, just like travelling, windows offer a way of connecting the world that waits outside and the world we build inside.
CK NG & Nicholas Goh/PIXERF
Some of us may be stuck at home, and the borders between many countries will remain closed for the foreseeable future, but as long as we’ve got a camera in our hands and a way to share our photos, creators around the world can continue to connect and inspire each other. To find companionship through each other’s eyes.
And the best news? We’ve got even more photo challenges for you. If you’ve been missing out or looking forward to another opportunity to showcase your work, don’t worry. You can still join our ongoing Mission challenges!
