Wednesday, March 20, 2013

moving forward || life


It's been rather difficult to keep up with this blog.

I think I might be moving forward in life away from this blog as I develop other websites/blogs revolved around my photography.

Monday we had our second advisory board of the year. If you don't remember, my last experience was life changing. Not REALLY, but at the same time it impacted me a lot. So I was definitely excited about round two.

I was able to meet with more photo editors and photographers. I got a lot of advice and a lot of good feedback. This program has been so much more than a photojournalism program. It's challenged me to grow in areas I thought I was already established in.

Check out my photoblog and my website to keep updated on what I'm shooting. I don't know if I'll post my work on here,  rather my personal life will be updated on here. 

Don't be afraid to show who you are to the world. It's terrifying. We're tempted to put on a performance and act. We analyze and assume we know what people want to her and see. Don't go there. Let who you are shine through, otherwise a connection will be missed. The window of opportunity to click and connect with people is slim.

I've started to connect with one photo editor and his words are like gems to me. I take what people say to me very seriously especially because I also know they aren't throwing out cheap words.
On the above photo he said, "Hannah, this is like a 1920's Lewis Hine photo. This is fantastic. This is your anchor."

Go for the gold. Move forward. Never let anything in your life plateau.



Friday, March 1, 2013

excellent in love || life


I'm sorry I've completely abandoned this blog. The month of February was ridiculous. It was busy with school. I was emotionally detached and spiritually stalled. When I'm disengaged with God and with myself I find it hard to be engaged with people, with my photography and with writing.

When I'm disengaged with people I find that I'm barely getting by. I exist, I work, I eat, and sleep.
Put that on repeat and that's what February consisted of.

I wanted to do really well in my program in regards to all my assignments. I worked really hard but I think I had more failures than successes last month. I found myself wallowing in frustration because I wasn't doing as well as I wanted to

No one wants to fail. Failure and rejection are the two life experiences I hate the most.
I'm not sure if its the case with most people, but I like to believe that we all have this intrinsic need/want for greatness.
No one wants to be last. We're trained from a young age to win, be the best, aim for perfection and avoid failure. We don't want to be left behind.

I find it hard to balance my life -  I want to do great in this new world of photojournalism, which I blindly and ignorantly entered into,  but I don't want to completely abandon everyone and everything else.

If I'm going to be known for anything I want it to be something beyond my ability to take photos and tell stories. This is just a medium for me to connect with this scary world. This is simply a way for me to discover myself and the untold stories I stumble upon. This is my way into someone's life to love them, to bless them and to learn from them.

If I strive for excellence in the wrong areas I lose myself.

If you've ever read A Wrinkle in Time you'll know why love is the most powerful weapon, tool and medium to bring some change to this broken world. It's not my photography, it's not my writing or intelligence that'll change anything. It's love.

Love drives out fear and darkness.

When we love and we know we're love it compels us to without so much pressure.
Anxiety and fear cripple me when I try to be excellent as a photographer. It's tiring and not worth it.
But if I make every effort to love and that's all my life is marked by, I would be satisfied.

Without love I am nothing.

“If she could give love to IT perhaps it would shrivel up and die, for she was sure that IT could not withstand love.” 
A Wrinkle in Time