I’ve always loved taking photos and capturing the world around me. Looking back it was a way to express myself without words, so having to explain my photos–who were meant to be my words–with actual words has been and will always be a challenge! To me, the purpose of the assignment was to have a story and use photos as illustrations. Which again, would be difficult for me, because that meant I had to come up with the words, when typically my work is the words itself.


At first, I tried to think of a story, but I almost went crazy trying to piece it together with the concept photos. So I tried to generalize and just think of short sentences or words, hoping I could rearrange them into something comprehensible. Luckily that worked, and all I had to do was take the pictures. Unfortunately, when the time came, I got shy, so I improvised and went completely off my script.


Vasantha Yogananthan takes photos that are words, yet when I look at them, I can’t describe them. I just stare, whether it be in awe or confusion. I love to sit and think when looking at any picture, not just his. I love when all other noise is drowned out and all other thoughts are gone because I’m so focused on the photo. No need to talk about it, just me and my internal narrator.


I took these photos hoping others would look and analyze what in the world was going on in the picture and my mind when I took these. If I had a title for this piece, I would call it “What’s Going On” 

                                          









As a beginner photographer, my work has been greatly influenced by my personal experiences, specifically as a woman. Delving into familiar feelings and situations that interconnect all women. As I have only been taking photos for the past few months, I have benefited from the works of other artists. I was influenced by photographers like Zoe Leonard, through her photography that incorporated activism and purpose in her photos. Her series “Analogue” explores the gentrification of her neighborhood sharing a poignant message through her art. I hope to someday mirror this and portray greater themes through my art.


“Walking at Night” explores the shared anxiety women have of being followed or watched specifically at night. The photos switch from the follower to the woman. A woman being stalked and a figure in the distance is portrayed throughout my series. The project concept rooted from my fear of parking garages. As I would walk from work to my car in a dark eerie parking garage alone, I constantly had the feeling of having to look over my shoulder as if being followed. This fear relates to most instances of being alone at night, as a woman, something we have always been taught to avoid. Unfortunately, the root of this fear is very real and shared by all women. My project primarily looks to explore this fear and capture this feeling.




                                          











I’ve always been interested in photography and capturing ‘candid’ moments. I grew up with disposable cameras, which limited the amount of photos we could take. We would have to pick the perfect moments to take photos of, which were often more posed and produced shots. I think there is something very special about capturing the more organic and less perfect moments. While it’s amazing to have memories of the big stuff, there's something equally as beautiful as the more mundane everyday moments. For this project I wanted to capture these more everyday, raw moments with my family over thanksgiving break, and try to find the beauty in the everyday moments.