”The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break, it kills.”

This work is an offshoot of the author’s existing archive of exchanges as an immigrant in the US, which pour into friendships among men, who confront personal and political violence. A photo novella of sorts, this portrays the individual and collective masculinity, desires, fears, and vulnerability by embracing silence and the subliminal. This chapter weaves together a journey of men from different walks of life, existing between the desire to integrate and the acceptance of living on the margin, holding on to all that they have! By photographing them and their gestures through repeated situations and encounters, interspersed with anecdotes of the encounters, the author plays the game to explore their softness, with a hint of roughness on the edges.