In this exhibition, I wanted to explore the process of capturing the people and places that have resonated with me the most. There’s two sides to a picture, one that must be intentionally created. One side is finding these moments in life, and the other is trying to freeze them in time.
Through these photos, I worked to capture the feeling I saw before me in different ways and with different techniques. From a solitary moonlit night in the forest to hundreds of people dancing on my block, I wanted to use the diverse applications of my camera to replicate the emotion of the scene. I am sharing a portion of the sales from this show with 7 Elements, an organization based in the Dominican Republic. Their mission statement is “Empowering Young Leaders and Visionaries to become civically involved and globally engaged in social and environmental issues through immersive educational programs located in the Dominican Republic.”
I worked with 7 Elements through a public health program I volunteered with last summer, and some of the photos present are of children I met during my time there. I recognize and want to acknowledge the complexity and history of representing children of color from impoverished backgrounds, especially by white photographers. I took these photographs with the explicit consent and understanding of these childrens’ parents, and I spent time working very closely with their community. And having built strong connections with both the kids and their community, I wanted to capture these connections through my photography. Looking back through my photos, I’ve found that these images embody one of the most meaningful times of my life.
