The seed was planted in my Spring 2005 photojournalism class. I took the class for fun, but ended up falling in love with James Nachtwey. My cousin Esmy let me use her camera. I had no idea what I was doing. After a lot of practice and blurry/blobby/overexposed/underexposed slides, I was able to to take my first photo trip. Well, it wasn't my first photo trip, but my first photo trip that wasn't for a grade, wasn't for class... just for me. I packed the trunk of my car with random outfits and accessories: shirts, scarves, shoes of different sorts, a pink petticoat... etc. I took Mariana to an empty parking garage near the Capitol in Austin (we were working there at the time). I made her pose like a fashionista. Then we went back to campus, to the creek that runs along San Jacinto Blvd. I put her in the petticoat and ballet slippers and took photos near the bridge. Then she changed into a dress I think and walked along the creek with a Turkish scarf a friend (Nathan) had let us borrow. I followed taking photos. I made her act like a fairy.
Later Nathan snuck me into the dark room in the fine arts building to develop the film. It was my first time in the dark room. I did everything from start to finish. The photos came out beautiful and I was very proud of my work. Mariana was a little embarrassed because she was the subject of every photo. I ended up giving her all the photos and sadly I have none left.
Then in Spring 2006, I took Medical Geography with Dr. Davis. At the time, I had no idea Dr. Davis would become my mentor and such an import figure in my life. At that time, I was still afraid to speak to her; I could have never imagined that she would end up being such a dear friend and such an inspiration to stay strong when my life seemed to be falling apart. To this day I have yet to meet a woman as intelligent, humble and inspiring. That semester changed the way I viewed the world entirely; it made me passionate about social activism. I will never forget the night I stayed up crying after reading about impoverished women of Latin America forced into dangerous, black market abortions. (Paul Harrison's Inside the Third World) Nor could I forget how I poured my heart and soul into my TRIPs v. Human Rights op-ed.
By this time I had given the camera and equipment back to Esmy. All I had was a small point and shoot digital then which I rarely used. I forgot about photography for a while. I finished school. Graduated. Started working. After working for a while I had saved up quite a bit of money. I decided to buy a camera.
I ended up buying a Nikon Coolpix P90. Manual exposure modes with automatic point and shoot capabilities, smile mode, D-lighting, continuous scene mode. I know, I know, I have read the reviews... It's not that amazing of a camera, but I was in love.
I started taking pictures of anything. Everything. And so it has been since 2008 when I bought it.
Lately, I have been disappointed in how noticeably lacking my manual photography skills are. So, I decided to make a few goals for myself and to dedicate this blog to my progress and to my journey as a self-proclaimed fotojornalista.
My goals were inspired by the Digital Photography School's 30 Photographic Goals for 2010. Below are my goals, pared down from DPS's 30 and in no particular order.
1. Take my camera with me... EVERYWHERE
2. Shoot a photo a day... Yes, that means EVERY day...
3. Take more pictures of the people I care about
4. Read more photography books/blogs
5. Submit my photos to competitions (nervous about this one, but going for it anyway)
6. 1 formal shoot a week. This will take a little work, but I am excited about it.
7. Make photo books instead of forgetting about everything in my hard drive
8. Get back to the basics... work on flash/composition/perspective/etc.
9. Find a connection at a local newspaper (SUPER excited about this)
10. Show my work at a coffee shop, cafe, whatever, wherever I can (This is something I have been wanting to do for a VERY long time)
11. Volunteer as a photographer for a non-profit. This is the one closest to my heart.
12. Use my photos to make post cards to send home to my family and friends. Another important one.
13. Take a class. Thinking about getting back into the dark room for this one.
So, 1 - 4... easy... 6 and 7... doable. 8... ESSENTIAL. 9 and 10... why not? Seems fun. 11 and 12 the most important of all. 13... I'll have to make time for that, but I know it will be worth it.
I cannot express how excited and passionate I am about # 11. No, I may not be James Nachtwey and I may not have the resources to travel the world with a camera and I may not be the international human rights lawyer I so badly wish I could be. But, I can get better with my camera. I can get back to volunteering like I used to. I can use my camera to share someone's story, someone's strife, someone's despair, someone's joy, someone's accomplishment. This is what fotojornalismo means to me. No, it won't stop black market abortions; it won't instantly make health a human right. But, it will get me in the right direction. For now, with what I have, this is a righteous project and I am INSPIRED.
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