Photojournalism
Witnessing my dad and my brother becoming photographers, an interest piqued within me too. There was just something so special about capturing moments with a camera. My passion increased after taking a Darkroom Photography class. My goal with photography and photojournalism isn't just to capture a mere "snapshot" of someone's life, instead, it is to share a picture that defines and tells the story of someone. Through high school photojournalism, I was able to do that. To the people I photographed, thank you. It was an honor to take your photo.
SENIOR SUNRISE
It was barely 6 in the morning when I arrived. I woke up at 5 a.m., to take pictures at the senior sunrise in 2021. I had a fun time taking the photos. It was my first time experimenting with photography, as the sunrises but the sun color couldn't have complimented the photos any better.
My photos were also featured in the yearbook. I also interviewed Lauren Bell, who decided to bring back the tradition of senior sunrise and wrote a story. I shoot all of my photos on a Nikon D810.
(Nikon supremacy)
ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITS
Below are a few of my favorite environmental portraits/feature photos I took over the years as a journalist. I had great conversations with all of the subjects below about their passions, from teaching to soccer.
“Growing up, I believed that I needed to have blond hair and blue eyes in order to be pretty, wearing Indian clothes out in public was embarrassing, and that speaking any language other than english was weird. I hated having tan skin and black hair which made me stick out from my peers. I felt that in order to be normal, I needed to conform to the white american way of living. Whether that was changing the pronunciation of my name or never bringing indian food for school lunch.
The cafeteria has become a holding location for classes whne there is a shortage of substitute teacher.
Felix Lahann chest bumps soccer ball during media day. Lahann has been playing soccer at Huron since his freshman year.
“Growing up, I believed that I needed to have blond hair and blue eyes in order to be pretty, wearing Indian clothes out in public was embarrassing, and that speaking any language other than english was weird. I hated having tan skin and black hair which made me stick out from my peers. I felt that in order to be normal, I needed to conform to the white american way of living. Whether that was changing the pronunciation of my name or never bringing indian food for school lunch.
NADANTA PHOTOGRAPHY
Nadanta is an Indian Organization that preserves and promotes Indian culture through dance. I am a part of this organization and wanted to volunteer to help with the spread of Indian culture through photographs and blogs, reaching a wider audience.
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These pictures are from the Garba (a type of Indian dance) event Nadanta hosted in Sept. 2022. I would simultaneously video record, photograph, and dance at this event. Click any photo to enlarge.
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As for the blogs/newsletter, it is something new I -- alongside the board of directors -- decided to implement.
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As for the blogs/newsletter, it is something new I -- alongside the board of directors -- decided to implement recently. I thought of it as an opportunity to introduce journalism to the Nadanta community while also incorporating Indian culture within journalism.
Below is the screen recording of the blog we came up with.
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We are planning to enhance our social media content as well, increasing our coverage and interaction with the audience through Instagram reel ideas and I am waiting on board approval for a Nadanta Tiktok account.
Some of my favorite photographs I took:
This was taken in my neighborhood. You can see this as you walk on the trail
This was more pictures I took of my cousin