Not all of Jamaica is Paradise

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Jamaica | Saturday, October 2, 2010 | 5 photos

When most people think of Jamaica, they see beautiful beaches and all-inclusive resorts, but that is not the real Jamaica. Once you step outside the walls of the resort, it doesn’t take long to realize how horrifying this country can be. Jamaica is a country ravished by poverty, hate, drugs and crime.
I experienced Jamaica completely different than vacationers in resorts. When I went to Jamaica, I bathed in rainwater, had no internet or cell phone access and lived off of peanut butter and jelly and red beans and rice. The idea behind these photos is to reveal the real Jamaica, which is stricken with poverty and poor living conditions. This nation is a place where taking a bath is a luxury and living off the land is a necessity.
I should be chosen for this scholarship because I want to give everyone the opportunity to experience different cultures and places, even if it’s through my photographs. Photography is my passion and I will do it for the rest of my life. I am a very determined individual who has worked four jobs in one summer to save up to travel. I want to immerse myself in different cultures around the world and live in remote villages to show the rest of humanity how diverse this globe is. This experience would be life changing for me. My dream job is to be a photographer for National Geographic and just to have Jason Edwards look at my work is a great honor.
Photography is a field that is always advancing which means there is always something new to learn. To me it is so exciting to think about what the future holds for photography and what new things I will learn along the way. I know that it is impossible to learn everything about photography, but I am always up for a great challenge.