About ku-potea
Meeting the Masai;
Sometimes your camera can propose threatening inquiry. I am here documenting an effort to get the village clean water.
At the age of ten, my passion for theatre began at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois. It was there that I found my first avenue to truly express myself and every moment I spent at Piven continues to inspire my work today. As part of my degree in Television Production at Columbia College in Chicago, I had the extraordinary opportunity to live and study in London, a city whose dynamic internationalism kindled in me a curiosity about the intersection of diverse cultures. Upon graduating in 2008, I began my involvement with the not-for-profit organization, It Can Be Done Africa, a fund set up to bring clean water wells to Uhuru Village in Moshi, Tanzania, by a Chicagoland native who had previously travelled to the area and wanted to make a difference. In 2009, I, as principal cameraman, along with a production crew, the organization’s board members and a crew of local guides, documented our group’s journey to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, as part of a pledge climb to promote the organization’s efforts. Since then I have been involved in innumerable productions, having served in a multitude of roles (actor, PA, casting director, acting coach, producer and director) which has exposed me to a broad spectrum of production experience. It is my dream to participate in, and capture on film, that intersection of cultures, in the hope that my art will make the world both a larger and smaller place at the same time.
Travel Photography Scholarship to Oman Submission:
I have always been interested in the moment of the encounter. At the age of ten, I began taking improvisation and theatre games at the Piven Theatre Workshop. It was there I learned to act upon impulse, take risks, to find my commitment to the moment. Heighten and explore! Discover! Became my doctrine. I am proud to exclaim that this method awakened my artistic career and inspires my work till this day.
My profound love for story and story telling transformed from the stage, to photograph, to film. Having learned to be present in the moment allows me to be ready to act upon my impulse in order to capture the heightened state. I am able to focus on the other and the task at hand. I am fortunate for the experiences I have had to work with non-profits helping share their stories of taking risks to help others in need. It is my dream to participate in, and capture on film, that intersection of cultures, in the hope that my art will make the world both a larger and smaller place at the same time. I will continue to seek and capture these stories in order to share the encounter; to do good in all the places I can, for all the people I can, for as long as I ever can.
I hope for an opportunity to learn from you and to discover the most visceral expression of the encounter, the one that breathes life in the moment captured through the lens. I would be eternally grateful to experience and learn from the talented, Jason Edwards. This awesome opportunity to be in Oman with Jason will allow me to enhance and grow my skills as a photographer. I hope to encounter you on my trail.
My Travel Map:
