Yes, you read that right. And I’ll tell you how I know it happened.

A few months ago, I was traveling through Thailand. During my first days on holiday, I dropped my analog camera. It still worked — or so I thought. But something had broken inside. The aperture, the part that lets light in, got stuck almost completely closed. With a digital camera, you’d notice immediately. But with an analog one, you only find out when you develop the film. When I got home and developed it, I realized I had lost almost every photo. They were all completely dark — underexposed, except for one.

During the trip, I had visited Mister O’s Elephant Sanctuary in Chiang Mai. He told us that to truly connect with an elephant, you need to do it through eye contact. Later, while standing in front of Nok Nok, one of the elephants, I took a photo —unaware that my camera was damaged. That single frame turned out to be perfectly exposed.

The only one.

The moment, the distance, the light and the damaged lens — everything aligned.

And, ironically, it’s also one of the best photos I’ve ever taken.

Technically speaking, it means that I was at the exact moment that the light hit the lens in just the right way, enough to pass through that tiny, almost closed aperture and reach the film. I like to think Nok Nok allowed me to capture her. That she felt comfortable enough to let me into her space.

Coincidence? Maybe. But as a photographer, and as a storyteller… some moments are just felt ✨