My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited
Philippines | Friday, July 5, 2013 | 
flickr photos
My name is Renato Valenzuela Jr, age 29 from Elizabeth, New Jersey. In previous iterations of my life I had been a business economics student, a pool-hall junkie, a professional political operative and a logistics coordinator. As colorful as these professions may sound, they were merely a means to an end, a way to get by. I had been playing with cameras and taking pictures since the age of 9. To me, it was nothing more than a fascination and a hobby. My father has a vast collection of cameras, several 35mm point and shoots, an Olympus XA, and a Nikon FM. I would spend days turning every knob, pressing every switch, twisting every stop for sheer amusement. It wasn’t until I was dismissed from uni and decided to take photo classes at community college that I finally started making photographs, rather than just simply taking pictures. The Darkroom became my fortress of solitude and the streets were my canvas. I carried a camera with me wherever I went. After having earned some money from my campaign job, I bought myself a DSLR. A trip to the Philippines and the help of the most amazing person made me realize that this was what I wanted to do for a living.
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