Five Moments of South America

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

I desire above all else to learn how to make more beautiful and complex images of the worlds we create everyday. Two summers ago, I went backpacking throughout South America with three friends, very little money, and a lot of questions. The intention driving the project was to photograph landscapes of each country we visited. I wanted to make images that would reflect and capture the magical realism that famously permeates and characterizes the continent. In the process, my fellow travelers began to blend in union with the topographies we moved through. The picture of the lighthouse in Chilé is the first lighthouse on the west coast of the continent. In a similar vein, the snowy Andes winding through Chilé felt as if they led to a different world. The two photographs depicting my travelling mates were chosen because I feel they emulate the perspective of outsiders or foreigners; a search for adventure when adventure is already painted on the wall behind you; or a vast expanse with a road that curves without explanation. The trip monumentally changed the way we all understood one another and how we conceptualized being citizens of a global populous versus a single country.
I aspire to continue learning how to express and interpret life visually. If selected, I will spend each day of the trip working to build upon the creative needs of Jason Edwards and the rest of the team. I hope to learn how to be more culturally sensitive while photographing and to continue making images despite the odds. In selecting a winner from such a wealth of talented submissions, I hope my images exemplify the kind of passion and curiosity that I strive to embody daily.