Where The Water Ends

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

USA | Friday, July 5, 2013 | flickr photos

I recently met a photojournalist, a role model of mine. I asked him how to get a foot in the seemingly impenetrable world of photojournalism. He told me, “Before you try, make sure you are ready to sacrifice everything you hold dear.”

Far from the encouragement I had hoped for, his advice worried me, but only up until I realized the extraordinary conditions in which he and I had met in the first place. We were on a lonely island off of Kiribati, one of an obscure string of pacific atolls I had spent months trying to get to, doing research, applying for funding, and diverting my time in order to travel to and document a lesser known corner of our planet. I was far from home, but what I held dear was close at hand.

My current photography may not reach far beyond my small group of friends and family, but there is nothing I value or enjoy more and sacrifice has already become part of what I do to facilitate it. Visually documenting the infinite disparities of life on earth is something I will never stop doing. However, it is my dream to share my pictures with the world and with the help of Jason, I may receive the tutelage necessary to create photos worthy of that dream.