VOL.6
SHELL OFF.
2024.
Photography. An LamÂ
Creative Direction. Thanh Nguyen
Model. Stephen Nguyen
Styling. Thanh Nguyen
Lighting. Hello Studio
Location. Hello Studio
When I first started going through puberty as a child, the mirror was my worst adversary.Â
I didn’t like how I looked, so I started to hate anything that reflected me…
I used to be afraid of the stares — that curious gaze laced with quiet judgment. Over time, it shaped the way I moved through the world: shy, unsure, shoulders hunched, eyes fixed on the ground as if it felt safer not to be seen too much.
I was unable to count how many layers of clothes I was wearing when I went outside. I thought of myself as a turtle that always wears a shell. Even though I found myself struggling due to the weight and discomfort of all those garments, I felt safe inside the shell…
To confidently wear see-through garments was one of my quiet dreams — not for the sake of being seen, but to feel light, honest, and unafraid in my own skin.
It was a long, quiet stretch of time. I kept wrestling with a version of myself that only lived in my head — someone free, at ease, someone who could look into the mirror without needing to hide, without shrinking into a shell that no longer fit.
To my younger self,
        We are almost nearly there.
Photography. Â An Lam
Creative Direction. Thanh Nguyen
Model. Stephen Nguyen
Make-Up. Â Vo Minh Luan
Styling. Thanh Nguyen
Lighting. Tan Phat Bui
Location. Hello Studio