Summertime

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

USA | Thursday, October 14, 2010 | 5 photos

The place that I’ve chosen to represent is my family’s cabin in northern Minnesota. The photographs can be viewed separately as individual events unfold or as a series, which reveal a day in the life of the Anderson’s at Point of Pines where my family is able to reunite for one week to bond with one another, be outside, and most importantly, swim.

As I have developed a love for photography, I’ve learned the most important thing about being a photographer is completely immersing yourself in photographs. By always having a camera by my side I have been able to capture everyday activities that may appear monotonous, but bear the potential to reveal immeasurable things about the subject and can serve as a tool to remember one single moment in time forever, exemplified by the photograph of my grandpa shucking corn.

During my years of studying photography, I’ve realized that learning to create a compelling photograph is not done by sitting in a classroom- sure, the technicalities and critiquing can be done in this manner, but the most important lessons are learned by throwing yourself into the world, wherever that may be. I lived in Southern India (Bangalore) for the summer of 2009 and found the most friendly, colorful, and photogenic people I have ever met. While I did apply a large degree of respect, being in an unknown place, most people loved having a photograph taken of them and I learned more about my strengths and weaknesses as a photographer.

I think that traveling in Bhutan would be a great experience and I know that I especially would learn a lot. I typically find myself drawn to people and portraiture style photography and know that having the ability to be guided in the field, learning about natural style photography would be a great opportunity.