Hard Driving Rock and Roll

My Scholarship entry -Developing Me: Influenced by London

United Kingdom | Saturday, November 22, 2014 | 5 photos

Life happens in small moments that many people miss or take for granted. Photography is a way for those of us who see these seemingly inconsequential flickers of time, appreciate them for what they really mean, and immortalize them in print. A great photograph is the perfect storm of variables. When I have a camera in my hand, the whole world changes and slows down. I can suddenly see the variables, light bouncing off every object, predict what will happen next, like the universe is handing me everything I need to get the shot. It is passion, skill, and raw intuition. I know that making art, traveling the globe, and teaching others what I learned is my lot in life, and photography is my ticket. I grew up in drought stricken Smalltowntexas, USA, a place you wouldn’t think would be the best location for amazing photography opportunities. But the truth is, those perfect instances I mention before can be found anywhere/everywhere and at any/all times. It just takes the right person to see them. I have seen them in Wichita Falls, Texas where I went to college, during two summers in London studying abroad, in New York City while I participated in a photography residency at the School of Visual Art, at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO during a photography internship, and countless other mini-adventures on the roads in between. I’m growing, and photography has played a huge part in the person I have become and am still evolving into. Using a lens to experience different cultures and trying new things has forced me to grow in ways I have never thought possible, and I am addicted. There is no better feeling than successfully capturing the image you crawled through the mud, climbed a tree, or hung out of a moving vehicle for. I don’t just like to take photographs, my soul needs to. This experience would strengthen me as a person, photographer, and teacher.