Faces

In the Gardens of Alcazar, Seville

As a typically solo traveler, it's frustrating to look through pictures of some of the most amazing experiences I've had and realize that there's no pictoral proof that I was there.  You'd think I would've learned by now, and yet at the end of every study trip there are next to no photographs of me and I have to rely on others.

This past Fall was a pitched battle for me emotionally and mentally.  Most days I found myself in the dark, clawing up the muddy slope out of the depths of my being, only to struggle over the same rocky ground all over again the next day.  In the bleakness of that place, it became all too apparent that the internal focus on me was doing more harm than good.

So I started turning the camera on my classmates and the people we met on stage: the expressiveness of their faces amplified my own experiences tenfold and brought what my mother calls "pockets of joy".  I have much to learn about photographing people.  One day I'd love to sit at the feet of my friend Sara Manning and soak in her eye and gift for capturing the essence of the people she photographs.  But here is a small representation of the final study trip, seen in the people with whom I shared that time.