Photojournalism – Fall 2010

This shoot portrays how the subject’s religious beliefs play a part on aspects of their life even though they remain an ordinary person.

Essay:

For this shoot I chose to study a friend, her name is Imani Randall. Initially I was drawn to focusing on her demeanor and obscurity. As I began shooting her in her nurse’s uniform, a special uniform required for the nursing ministry in some churches, mainly protestant ones, in which their primary concern is the care of the clergy, I realized her religious beliefs were the determining factor in most aspects of her life. As I continued to shoot, I realized the extent to which her religious beliefs influenced her life and what an important role her spirituality served in her life. As I sought to explore the different aspects of this, I also learned that I had many obstacles such as not being allowed to photograph her church and her family’s refusal to partake in the shoot. I decided to think about it in a different way.

My shoot therefore attempts to depict that her spirituality is both cultural and personal. It influences everything from the way she is perceived to her view on social issues. She takes great pride in her Christian upbringing even though she does at times feel a bit out of place because of it. I wanted to highlight the fact that even though she is a very devout Christian who dedicates much of her time to the church, she is also an ordinary young woman.

My environmental pictures are about a teenager’s dependency on technology.  I followed my fiancée’s teenage daughter, Cynthia, for a day only to discover how extraordinary that she cannot go two minutes without using her phone to text and “Facebook” her friends.  I asked her if she could go a whole day without looking at it and she said no.

She woke at 6am for school and within 10 minutes she was on the phone gossiping or texting someone.  Who in their right mind does that at 6am?!?!  Before we even got out the door, she was on Facebook.  To and from school, the phone was in her hand ready for a quick reply when needed.  After school, Cynthia stopped at a friend’s house for a bit where she actually put down the phone only to pick up a guitar and play rock band.  When we got home, while laying in bed she can be seen and heard communicating via her phone.

Even when Cynthia had the computer to do homework, the phone was in constant use.  Only when she fell asleep studying did the phone get put down.  Funny enough, just after I took the picture of her sleeping, the phone buzzed and still half asleep, Cynthia replied then went back to sleep.  In the evening while still watching TV, the noise of her fingers pressing the buttons on the phone continued until it was time to sleep.

Essay:

Approaching this project, I wanted to shoot my friend, Shin Lin. As he works on motorcycles and scooters in his spare time, he takes his work seriously. When I initially started shooting, I thought the pictures would reflect more on his actual taking apart and working on the machines. But being in the atmosphere and trying to shoot, brought out a different side of the work, particularly his working environment and the limitations he faces.

As his workspace is shared with his father, the different tasks he can do within the confines are limited. This pushed me to fine different angles and perspectives while shooting so that each frame was not too similar. I aimed to show his level of concentration to his work as he deals with limitations he can not control.