Sonia Lim

The Lone Friend

Hello, my name is Sonia Lim. I am a photographer based in California. As long as I could remember, I have always been drawn to capturing the genuine moments of friendship; moments that convey happiness. 

For my final photo series, I wanted to do something a little different from what I normally do. My photo series The Lone Friend portrays the moments of loneliness one can feel while with friends. To convey the feelings of loneliness, I utilized low exposures, muted colors, and a variety of framing. Whether it was a solo shot or a shot of a person being separated from the group, I believe that these photographs truly convey and portray the feelings that I believe many have when in a group setting. People may not openly express it but it is definitely there.

During the process of this project, I was fond by the works of Sarah Berglund. The Toronto-based photographer captures the joys of friendship and portrays the nature of relationships through her photo series “Friend of a Friend”. Although I was inspired by Berglund’s works, I decided to switch things up when it came to my final works. Instead of capturing the feelings of joy in friendships, I decided to capture the feelings of loneliness. I believe that loneliness in friendships is not touched upon as much as the joys of it are, so I saw this as an opportunity for me to portray those feelings through my photographs.

Loneliness is something everyone goes through whether it is in a friendship or relationship. There will always come a time when you feel lonely, even when you are with friends. It isn’t something that is unnatural, but actually very common, no matter who you are.