Kalimpong

My Scholarship Entry - A 'Place' I Have Visited

India | Friday, July 5, 2013 | 4 photos

There is a feeling I cannot describe when the focus is pulled and my subject comes into view. It’s one of the most satisfying feelings for me; a moment of life captured forever. Cheesy as that sounds, I love taking portraits. As an introvert, I’m not the best at carrying conversations with people but in photos I’m given a second chance to learn who they are.

It would be a dream to somehow become that artist that travels and makes meaningful work. Not art for art’s sake, but art with purpose and a message that resonates. I want to open people’s minds to celebrate the differences and similarities we have as a human race and most of all, I want to effect understanding.

I attended art school for a year but left as I felt it was draining my creative side instead of building on it but ever since I’ve found it difficult to connect to creativity again. I feel this mentorship could allow me to reevaluate how I treat photography and even expand my definition of it. I want to learn how to impact a viewer immediately with an image, leaving them questioning something they believed in moments prior. I also want to learn how to do this without exploiting the people whose stories I want to tell.