my brother

This is Minh, my half brother. He's the oldest out of 6 of us. I decided to photograph him because I've always been curious about his life. I found out I have three half brothers from my mum's side when I was 12, and Minh moved in to our house when I was 13. I use to come home to the house reeking with the smell of weed, and a few months later my house was destroyed. There were a gazillion holes in our carpet, bongs underneath the cushion and I also noticed a lot of my belongings were disappearing months after months. Although my brother was a troubled teen, Minh has always been kind and caring and to me he's just like one of us. Minh has been a heroin addict for 15 years (he is in his early 30's now), working on a very low income at times not enough to support himself as well as his girlfriend. I visited his place the first time and to be honest I was heart broken at the sight of his surrounding. The place he calls 'home' is a dumpster, there were dirty plates left for days in the sink and there was also hardly any food in the fridge.

It's somehow important to me to have to face this because it has made me learn to appreciate what I have. I don't know what other ways to tell my story other than hoping my images will say the words as this is the only way I know how to get to know my brother.

Olivia Tran