PhotographyTalk Scholarship

I have had an interest in photography ever since I took a history of photography course my first year of college and I began shooting on an old 35mm film camera. One of the reasons as to why I became so captivated with photography is its ability to document, tell stories, and even bring change and social justice to our society. Photographers who documented the civil rights movement, Vietnam War, or even child labor, all influenced change in the United States because of the raw emotion their photographs depicted. The average person could see with their own eyes what was really going on for the first time and because it was unsettling for many people, we began seeing change in our legislature and pressure to pull out of Vietnam intensified.

In recent years, photographs that have affected me the most are wildlife photographers who are documenting pollution, habitat loss, and illegal poaching. There is one photograph in particular that I saw a year and a half ago that that had a big impact on me. It was shot by Justin Hofman and the only thing in the frame was this little seahorse who was carrying a cotton swab in his tail. It was really saddening for me because this is our trash that is ending up in the oceans and it is affecting our ecosystems. In many ways, after seeing this photograph I was inspired to pick up the camera and start shooting again.

As an amateur photographer, one of my biggest weaknesses is getting the focus on point in my camera. It has always been a struggle because I began shooting on a fully manual camera and I wear glasses. The camera I learned how to shoot on is older than me and I don’t even think autofocus was around when this camera came out. The worst part about shooting film is if you can’t get your focus right in the camera and you move into the darkroom, you’re still going to struggle to focus your images properly because the enlargers are all manual as well. I am happy to say I have recently moved to the digital age and my current camera has an amazing autofocus system built into it. I try to mess around with the manual focus from time to time but it is still bit of a struggle. Despite my problems with focusing, I am generally pretty good and planning my images. I like to think about what I want to capture before taking the shot. I also try to shoot from various angles whenever possible. When you plan your shot beforehand it makes your photograph more interesting and put together. I have noticed a difference in my images when I began to plan my shot first.

I will be transferring to Arizona State University as an out of state student. As a non-resident student, I will be paying out of state tuition for my studies. It is nerve wracking how much they to out of state students. I am coming from Los Angeles where cost of living is extremely high and it feels like I am trading one high expense for an even higher expense. I do not have family support here and I have to work between forty and sixty hours a week to cover my rent and school expenses in California. Despite working so much, I managed to maintain a 3.5gpa. The last academic advisor I spoke to told me I would never get to the point of transferring, let alone graduating unless I quit my job. It hurt to hear an academic advisor say that to me but I kept pushing forward like I always have despite his harsh words. In doing so, I have proven myself to be a dedicated and hard-working individual who accomplishes their goals despite facing hardships and obstacles. This is why I deserve the PhotographyTalk scholarship. It is worth investing in my future because I am someone who finishes what they start.

In five years, I will be working on my PhD. I will also be continuing with my photography. I should be beyond the amateur stage by this point and maybe even have my focusing down. If I am lucky though, autofocusing systems will be even better in five years and I wont even have to think about focusing manually ever again. Having this scholarship will make it a little easier to get to where I want to be.

As an environmental science major, I enjoy being outdoors and around nature. It saddens me greatly to see plastic waste along the trails and pollution in our ocean. Most of what I photograph is the waste that we leave behind. We are a consumerist society and because our trash is whisked away each week on trash day, many of us have become disconnected with the waste that we create. You can tell people all day long about the plastics in our oceans and what it is doing to marine life but change won’t happen unless you show them just how much is there. People need to see just how much plastic ends up in the stomachs of marine life and they need to see animals living within our waste just like that little seahorse. I intend on using my photographs to document the negative impact humans have on ecosystems and use my knowledge as a scientist to help educate others. Hopefully one day my photos will have an impact on people so we can bring change and help protect the natural world we live in.

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