My father had one dream for his children: a comfortable life. Growing up poor, he never wanted us to experience what he’d been through.

For years, I followed that path by building a career in finance. By a twist of fate, I packed up and moved overseas for a year to pursue photography. It was the first time I felt like myself.

Coming home and leaving a cushy career created some distance between us, and I longed to return to the place where I felt most connected to myself. And then he suffered two strokes within a year. I watched him fight his way through recovery, and began photographing the process.

As he grew stronger, I started staging childhood memories with him. To relive our relationship, I went through the text messages we exchanged during my year overseas and presented them as sales receipts.

Stephanie Lee’s Your Favourite Disappointment | 真的是白疼你了 (2019 – 2025) is presented at the 10th Singapore International Photography Festival as part of Shifting Images: Photography from Singapore 2000–2025, under The Stories We Carry.