American South

My Scholarship entry - Permanent Revival: The American South

USA | Monday, November 24, 2014 | 5 photos

I have been photographing the American South since 2012. Inspired by Robert Frank’s highly influential book The Americans, I am deciphering post-9/11 American culture and socio-economics as an outsider. In this ongoing project, my photographs try to analyze the process of Permanent Revival that The South is trapped in. My photographs document the Americana as it melts into itself and forms anew molded by the forces like religion, politics, race, youth and education.
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I am striving to make a career in documentary travel photography. I am a senior BFA in Photography student from Louisiana Tech University, USA.

If I win this travel scholarship, I hope to gain a lot of exposure, and experience at the top of my desired field of work. A mentorship program with such a renowned photographer like Jason Edwards will also help me understand and cope with real-world scenarios. On field, I hope to experience first hand what every photojournalist faces on a day-to-day basis. It will be thrilling to be part of such an esteemed team.

Moreover, both my educational background in fine art photography and work experience in photojournalism have prepared me for this opportunity. I have an understanding of visual aesthetics and communication. My job as a photo editor for the university newspaper, and yearbook has made me proficient in organizational and leadership tasks. I interned as a photographer for The Lexington Herald-Leader and became familiar with working for a daily newspaper in the newsroom environment. I speak, read, and write two Indian languages- Bengali and Hindi, and I believe that this would be very valuable in any journalistic setting.