WP1 - Prewriting Assignment

I don't know the girl in the photograph. I don't have any information about her life. I have never spoken to to her, and I probably never will.

I don't have any information about this picture either. I don't know where or when it was taken. To be honest, I found it completely by accident. I was looking for something totally different.

But I had an instant connection with this picture from the moment I looked into this girl's eyes. Even without information or details to put this scene in context, I feel like I already know so much about them.

This innocent little girl is sick. She has cancer and is fighting her disease with chemotherapy. These treatments would be difficult for anyone to endure. But they are especially difficult for a little girl. The pain she is feeling is real. You can see it in her tired eyes. This disease is hurting her, and she wants the cancer to go away.

But this little girl is not alone in this fight. She has a loving mother who has been by her side every step of the way. This girl trusts the mom sitting beside her. She takes comfort in her presence. Their touch and intimacy is visible to the naked eye. And their love radiates powerfully through this still image.

This photograph is black and white, but the moment it captures is filled with color. You can see and feel the love shared between them. This mother and her daughter care about each other. They trust each other. They would do anything for each other.

They look happy in this picture. Happy simply to be together. Happy just because they are alive.

But if you look just a little deeper, you can also see sadness. It's not obvious at first, but it's there. This girl has been through something terrible. She has struggle alone in complete darkness. She has screamed, drowning in hopelessness with no one there to save her.

And this mom has endured unimaginable pain. She has had to watch on the sideline, as her child tries so hard to fight an impossible battle. Tired and broken, this disease is slowly killing them both.

Yet hope can be the light in a dark world. And despite all of the bad, I also see hope in this picture. There image doesn't have a background. There are no scary hospital buildings or nurses with more pills to swallow. No expensive bills to pay with money not had, or a lonely bed to be confined to. That's not what this moment is about. This moment is about love.

Love is beautiful. Love is strong. And love can concur anything. That's what this photograph is about. That's what this moment, frozen in time, is about.

I don't know this girl very well. I don't have any information about her life. I have never spoken to her, and I probably never will.

And yet, I know so much about her.

My Photography Experience

I have had a lot of experience using photography in my life. When I was a kid my mom used to take pictures to document everywhere that we went. Naturally I developed an interest in photography and began asking her if I could use the family camera.

At the time we had a really expensive camera, so instead of letting me use that when I was little (and could potentially break it), she instead bought me those cheap kodak cameras that you use one time, take out the film and throw away.

I remember even after taking my first pictures how amazed and captivated I was by photography. To me it was almost like being able to control time or freeze frame it for a second. I could take a picture of my friends, a building or even animals and know that I could keep that image forever.

I have always been sentimental and photography was also important to me with my friends. I have always taken a lot of pride and interest in photographing memories so that I will never forget them. On vacations or at summer camps I was always the kid with the camera, wanting to have picturesm of the amazing things that we were doing. After all, what if we never get to do them again?

With this knowledge, it's no surprise that I chose Journalism as a career. Documenting events and news stories in my life and in the lives of others just interests me. It was definitely an easy career choice when I was planning out my career in high school. I think my love and interest in photography (and a transition into videography) has had a big effect on the decisions I have made in my later life. I don't know what I would be doing without it.

And so you will probably find me in 15 or 20 years. Documenting the news with my camera by day. And taking pictures with my camera on thenights and weekends with friends and family. I absolutely love pictures, and I don't think that will ever change.