I'm Viraj Ayar, and I take pictures under the name Third Cult—because when you grow up everywhere and nowhere, you need a name that captures the beautiful fucked-up-ness of it all. Third culture: that liminal space between what your parents call home and wherever you happen to be trying not to embarrass yourself.

We left India when I was seven. The usual story—family chasing something better. Canada, then the States, then the Middle East, then wherever the wind blew us next. Five countries later, I learned that some kids collect baseball cards; I collected passport stamps and the ability to read a room fast while finding the nearest adventure.

Zero hometowns will do that to you. Make you good at showing up and figuring out the local rules, then doing something completely insane just to feel alive. Turns out this brand of rootlessness makes you useful in Washington circles. Did my time in the D.C. machine—Congress, White House, foreign policy grind. Thought I wanted to be a diplomat. Maybe I still do.

I'm constitutionally incapable of staying anywhere long enough to see how the story ends. I shoot on film because there's something honest about not being able to take it back. No do-overs, just you and the moment.

This site captures fragments of all that wandering: the places that shaped me, the people who made the journey worth taking. Because in the end, that's all any of this is about—the people. The connections that make you forget, even briefly, that you're still looking for home.