Success

Today, I successfully finished my junior year of college at Columbia. I am extremely proud of myself and I can't think of a better decision I could have made. Coming to Columbia has shown me the creativity that people are capable of and have opened my eyes to projects and topics that would never be acceptable at my previous school; for that I am grateful.
As a person, I hate change. Its just how I am. It was extremely difficult for me to transfer from a school wear I felt extremely comfortable and at home and I knew people, to a school that is over hyped and I feel uncomfortable and don't know anyone.
I am proud to say however, that despite all that, I have a year left until I recieve my Bachelor degree. Despite my uncomfortable experience, I must push forward and become the person I want to be.
Here's to a new chapter in the book.

Creative Slump

This past week has been very difficult. 
I was not satisfied with a good portion of my work that I created this week.
I hate creative slumps, it makes it difficult to come up with new ideas for projects and find ways to carry out projects that are satisfying.

I am my own worst critic, but isn't every artist. I second guess myself in times like these.

I begin to question if the path that i am going down is the right one. Am i good enough to be successful in this field.?

These are my thoughts on this past week.. unfortunately. 

"Nothing is ever the same as they said it was.."

Read about how Diane Arbus’s photographs capture the heart of New York below. If you are unfamiliar with Arbus's work the author's description of each photograph really helps you picture the scene. A great read with plenty of quotes about how Arbus really went about her work.

http://flip.it/TxSLcD

Let's Play Catchup

Hello everyone! 

It has been way too long since I last posted anything. Things got really busy with school and work, and i fell behind in my blogging. To the people that follow this blog, i am very sorry.
Since the last time I posted in this blog, I've had three paying photo sessions. Making strides!!
Last semester ended on a good note. I got a better grade in a class than i thought. I was just notified the other day that i made the Dean's List last semester! I am super proud of that.
Meanwhile, week 2 of the new semester just ended for me, & i am still getting used to workflow to keep up with everything. 
I will work on finding some quality reading material for you guys to read. 

Stay Tuned!

Thank you for your continued support!

Petcoke: Tracing Dirty Energy

Hi everyone! I realize that it has probably been a while since you have seen anything new up on this blog, but the past few months have been kind of crazy. I have transferred to a new school, and I have been getting used to that (still not quite used to it, I feel like an outsider in a community where friendships and relationships have already been established).

With the transfer to a new school means a handful of new courses that were not available at my other school. I am taking a nature and environmentalism course. This class began allowing us to question what is actually considered nature. We discovered that nature is a social construction, something that is different to everyone. We have recently begun touching base on environmental justice. With this discussion of environmental justice, a huge topic has been that of petcoke.  Petcoke is a byproduct that comes with burning petroleum. This topic has become a rather popular topic in Chicago because the southeast side of Chicago has some of the largest petcoke storage (not by choice). Citizens of the southeast side of Chicago are rallying to get this petcoke removed completely from their environment for it can be detrimental to their health.

If you would like to know more about the petcoke epidemic, I suggest that you look it up online, several articles and stories should come up.

Otherwise, I suggest that you stop by the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College in Chicago as I have today. The MoCP has an exhibit called Petcoke: Tracing Dirty Energy featuring the work of 8 artists, up until October 9^th. This exhibit really helps the viewer to understand what the people of the southeast side of Chicago are going through. Photographer Terry Evans has aerial photography within this exhibit of the BP Refinery in Whiting, Indiana and of different petcoke storage and movement along the Calumet River on the southeast side.

Now you are probably wondering, what if do not live in Chicago? How does this affect me? 

This petcoke is shipped on barges from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi River. This petcoke is shipped via the railroad. So if you are in any way associated with the Mississippi River or even the railroad, you may be affected by petcoke.

Take the time to become aware of this environmental injustice as well as this health issue among those introduced to it.

I hope that you choose to take a stand against petcoke.

Mocp.org

Sorry For My Absence, Here's Some Reading Material

I apologize for my absence from here. The month of July was filled with school work and full-time hours at work. It's hard to believe it's already August. I'm coming off of a weeks vacation which was a great time.
Now I'm faced with the stress of transfering to a new school as a full-time student while maintaining my full-time hours at work and managing what will prove to be a long term relationship (for the most part, he's only like 200-ish miles away).

In spirit of the 2016 Olympic games, there is a photograph of Jamaica's Usain Bolt that has gone viral. The photograph shows Bolt looking over his left shoulder as he's leading the pack of sprinters and this grin just falls across his face. The link below is to an article that contains an interview with the photographer that captured that photograph.

How An Olympics Photographer Captured Usain Bolt's 'Cheeky Grin'

Remembering Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham was a fashion photographer for The New York Times, best known for his candid, street photography. Cunningham recently passed away on June 25th. He worked for the Times from 1978-2016; his column was On the Street and Evening Hours. The link below is a series of videos that Cunningham did on fashion for The New York Times.

Bill Cunningham Videos

The following link is to a Refinery29 article. 

14 Fashion Insiders Remember The Late, Great Bill Cunningham