Waking Optical Dreams

Awakening Optical Dreams

USA | Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | 5 photos

These photographs were taken in and around the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. I absorbed and digested everything I witnessed and despite all the grief and poverty, there is too much beauty to ignore. Callused hands of all ethnicities and ages built this diverse and cultured city and now, generations later, they rebuild; these photos are about perseverance and compassion.
I am a storyteller. The raw, unfiltered realism of documentary and photojournalism is my passion and true calling. I consider myself a citizen-of-the-world and I want to capture and expose the harsh realities and beautiful truths across the globe to share with as wide an audience as possible. I know my lens can change the world. I want to create imagery that awakens others' emotions and imaginations the same way Henri Cartier-Bresson's and August Sander's work effected me.
I will get my shot through the deepest snow and fiercest heat. I'm currently a senior at Chapman University and last year I was accepted into a program where I shot a documentary on the illegal bushmeat trade in Cameroon, Africa, trying to build local empathy for Gorillas. It was dangerous, hot, and unpredictable and sometimes we didn't sleep or eat, but it was the best experience of my entire life. I want the rest of my life to be like this; I want to travel and world and meet amazing people and capture their stories. Some people are defined as a “humanitarian” through words, others through diplomacy . . . I want to be defined as a humanitarian through the photos I share. I have a passion for learning and I would cherish this mentorship program for the rest of my life.