My name is Hanyan, many friends of mine said my name sounds Korean although I’m not, I’m 100% Chinese: I was born in China, grew up in China, and I moved with my family to this country about five years ago. I have an English name, Layla, this word means night in Persian. The name comes from a song that also named Layla, this song is considered “one of rock music’s definitive love songs” and yes, rock is my favorite type of music. I barely talk to people I don’t know because I’m a little bit shy, but immediately after I make friend with someone, I start to become so talkative that nothing can stop me. I think it is because I only make friends with people share the same interest with me, and the only thing I like to talk about is things of my interest.
Since I came here without knowing the language, and I prefer stay home rather than going out but not be able to communicate with others, I have to find something to do when I stay home all alone. Therefore, for the past five years, music and manga has become my most interest. I just can’t stop admire people who can sing, compose and draw beautiful pictures, because I can’t. Music has no language boundary, that’s why I think it is beautiful. I can not to understand the meaning of the lyric, but still enjoy the melody. For a person like me who was putted down by the language barrier so many times, music can be a rescuer. The reason why I love manga is very simple: I feel it is easier to read books with pictures explaining what is happening than read books that have so many words cram together on the same page, which makes me feel dizzy. There is an interesting fact about manga: once you start to read one, you will want to read another, and this is so true for me.
After two to three years of life in the U.S, I became more use to the lifestyle and language here, so I have more friends and go out more often. That is when I fall in love with photography. Wherever I go, I carry my camera with me, it help me capture the beauty of the things I seen, also help me to explore more beauty in my life. I start to love this city. New York, it is not only convenient but also beautiful. Another thing I love about photography is I can share things I seen, I love with my friends
I used so many words to talk about my interest, hope it did not boring you. Because as I said to the beginning, I love to talk about things of my interest, and since you are all considered my friends, I just can’t stop talking. I believe I will have more things to share with you during the rest of this year.
（I took those pictures in the city, if you view your world carefully, everyhing can be beautiful）
