I started photography at the age of 15. I was working at a summer camp at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. We had to take club programs after camp days were over. I selected photography. I interned in the Public relations department during the fall of my senior year in high school.
I photographed many of their events. That is when I though I really had an opportunity to become a photographer. I saw photos by National Geographic’s Mark Thiessen on firefighting photography in California. This gave me a new respect for firefighters.
My aspirations with photography are to become a photojournalist or documentary photographer. I want to visually tell someone’s stories. I want to bring hope to someone else through my photographs. Visually documenting an event requires a lot of different visual images. I want to shoot for social change and hopefully raise social awareness for people who need their voices heard. Everyone needs a chance in society. I want my photographs to effect people from anywhere from small villages to large cities. I love making photos out of any situations.
I care about making a difference in society. My camera allows me to capture the visions of my world as I see it. My inspirations in photojournalism are Brendan Bannon, Todd Maisel, Andrew Hinderaker, James Nachtwey,and Thatcher Hullerman Cook. These photojournalist in my mind are story telling wizards with the camera at their eyes. They have unique eyes in which they tell a story. They look and wait around for special moments to happen.
My work can best be described as photojournalism. I made the decision to jump into the shark tank at 18 when I entered college. My photographic eye is all about telling photo stories of the real situations that are happening before me. I love to turn on the scanner early in the morning. If I hear something that sounds interesting or catches my attention I will take it in. I’ll get there and start shooting. I’ll allow things to play out in front of me.
The thing with photojournalism is you have to let the photos play out from behind the viewfinder and just react and snap. I want my photographs to be a testimony of what I have witnessed throughout my life. I like to get up close and personal with my subject. I’ll use my telephoto lens to gain access to an emotional close up. I feel as if close ups tell an amazing story of either fear or victory. They offend tell the overall story of the situation.
My ideal photo assignments would be going over to a war torn country and tell the physical and emotional toll it has taken on people. I want to make a overall different throughout the world with my photography. For me someone’s situation is different from mine. Their culture and way of life is different from mine. I shall record these moments as a photojournalist and they can last forever over the course of time. I can’t wait to explore the world with my camera. People need their stories told.
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