Travels

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | flickr photos

I fell in love with photography from the moment I first saw my photo emerge in the darkroom at age thirteen. I knew then that I wanted to go on creating more of these images. My dreams, however, were not realized and as family pressures pushed me in a more traditional direction. These dreams were rekindled when I moved to Iowa City three years ago.

Iowa City is home to the acclaimed Writers’ Workshop and the International Writing Program, and gave birth to artists and musicians such as Jackson Pollock and Al Jarreau. The city is filled with innovative minds that ignite the imagination and reveal the world in a new light. Being surrounded by this creative energy, I was inspired to rediscover photography as a means of expressing my creative side. It is because of the influence Iowa City has had on me that I selected photographs of the city for the scholarship.

I wish to travel to Bhutan because of my love for and interest in all cultures. I have lived in different countries, am multi-lingual and started my college radio station’s first world music show. Additionally, I want to learn photography from someone who has mastered the art so I can become a more perfect photographer. Although I feel that I have a good feel for creating images, my knowledge of modern photography is self-learned. Some things I have managed to learn are: 1) the importance of learning the technical aspects of photography so I don’t cheat myself with lesser results; 2) it is worth waking at 2:00 AM to drive 3 hours to capture the first light; 3) I need to get a lighter tripod; and, 4) I have so much more to learn and that I passionately want to do so.