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My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Italy | Saturday, October 1, 2011 | 5 photos

When I was 15 I was introduced to something that would change my life. Immersed in depression, I found the one place in the world that made everything make sense: looking through a camera. Since then, my heart has developed with the notion that photography was simply a piece of it. I could lose hours in a captivating shot and days in a dark room. I see the world in photographs and ache on a daily basis to have a camera permanently implanted in my brain. I see beauty in everything. Often in what is ignored, left behind, or unseemly. It was on my trip to Italia, my first out of the country, where I learned just how powerfully I was drawn to photograph what I saw in alleys, to pay the homeless man for his beautiful portrait, and to capture what so many others simply walk by. I keep these memories in my pocket as I move through each day. I'm touched by their fortitude and believe in standing up for them, all of them. They deserve to be remembered, too. I write about my traveling adventures and use my experiences in my work as a counselor. It is my dream to travel the world and contribute to photography, though I know I still have plenty to learn. I look forward the challenge, and would be humbly and eternally grateful for this opportunity. Looking back at that 15 year old girl, she had no idea what was in store. Now, I am blessed with a beautiful life that I fall in love with each day, capturing small tidbits of it through whichever camera I've stocked myself with for the day. There is so much beauty to be had, so many stories still needing a voice. Let's get to it.