Turmeric Lemon Drink

Shirt- Madewell|Trench-American Apparel (Similar)|Earrings- Madewell|Cap- Uniqlo

Jeans- Levi’s

Shoes- Nike (Similar)

Photography by. Bernadette Mira

My adoptive father surrounded the house I grew up in with photographs that he took throughout the years. I admired the rawness and shock that his photos invoked. When it comes to photography, I do have this pain that comes with it. I didn’t know that I would spend the rest of my life without them. I don’t have that family anymore that I grew up with. They aren’t the people who I thought they were and it has taken me a lot of time, but I have come to terms with that.

Even though that pain is there, I still enjoy taking photographs and capturing the human experience. One thing I find true that my adoptive father told me about photography in his most “arrogant stern voice” is, “It doesn’t matter what equipment you have. It all depends on the photographer and the story they want to tell.” That saying makes me frustrated. It’s almost as dumb as the saying, “There are no small parts, only small actors…” BUT it’s true. There are times when I get so hard on myself about not having the ‘best’ equipment or much of it. I mean, I  have been using the same camera for over ten years, which is a hand me down anyway. A Nikon D200, which is old as fuck.  I  grew up poor. Everything I have still and had are hand me downs. It makes me embarrassed yet, I will admit, I have produced some good images even with equipment that isn’t shiny and new.

As artists its easy to convince ourselves that we aren’t “good” enough and compare our work to other people’s’. It’s something I struggle with everyday, but I try to remember why I started taking photos. When I was 16, along with dancing, photography helped me capture the pain and sadness I was feeling then. I stopped when I started pursuing Musical Theatre, but once I opened up about being sexually abused to my adoptive family I started taking photos again to help me through the pain. That’s where I discovered cooking, food and product photography. As silly as it is, photography has saved me in some ways. So, in conclusion I will continue to take photos, even with the pain, even with shitty equipment, because it is a part of me. I’m not going to let that go.

Turmeric Lemon Drink

(To heal colds and other remedies)

Serves 1

Ingredients

Juice from half of a lemon

1 cup of boiling water

1-3 turmeric ginger iced cubes

1/2 tsp. of turmeric 

5-8 thin slices of fresh ginger

1/2 tsp. of honey (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare turmeric ginger iced cubes the night before. Combine 1/2 tsp. of turmeric, 5-8 thin slices of ginger, and 1/2 cup-1 cup of water. Stir well and pour mixture into ice-cube tray. Should make about 5-7 cubes. Let them rest for 8 hours or overnight to freeze.
2. In a kettle, boil 1 cup of water or more.
3. Then add turmeric ice cubes, juice from half of a lemon, and honey into a heat proof mug.
4. Once the water has boiled, pour the hot water over the ice cubes and watch them melt into the water. This should happen fairly quickly, about two minutes.
5. After the ice cubes have melted, stir the mixture one more time then enjoy slowly or take it as a quick shot to help colds, sore throats, upset tummies and more.