Frozen Photons

My Scholarship entry - Two Years in Fiji: Snapshots of Service

Fiji | Friday, November 21, 2014 | 5 photos

From 2011 to 2013 I spent 26 months in Fiji volunteering with the United States Peace Corps. Fiji is extremely different from where I grew up in California, and one of the biggest challenges that I faced during my service was overcoming language and cultural barriers.

I am passionate about environmental issues, and in order to make a significant impact with the environmental resource management work I was doing I had to communicate effectively. While I was not always successful, I relished the challenge of communication and actively tried to find ways to improve my effectiveness.

I found that through photography I was not only able to capture the natural beauty of Fiji but also communicate some of the emotion and essence of my service. The language of photography is universal, and by sharing the images I captured with the people I was trying to communicate with I was able to overcome some of the barriers that I was so challenged by.

I'm always searching for new insights into my own techniques and compositions. The prospect of being mentored by Jason Edwards truly excites me, and what I will learn will undoubtedly help me in my quest to convey the wordless language of photography.