My humble, now semi boxed up living space for the past year.
It’s a weird time, I’ve finished graduate school, officially finished. I completed my coursework, defended my master’s project, I’m on my way out to pay my parking ticket so as to leave no debt here and get my diploma mailed to me. I opted to go to the Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, VA instead of walking for graduation. It was a hard decision but one that overall I feel was the right one.
I’ve had a lot of people ask me recently what I thought of going to grad school. Everyone who’s a photographer knows your academic credentials mean next to nothing in this industry, unless you want to teach (which I may at some point considering how much I’ve enjoyed teaching at OU the past year). So, degree notwithstanding, why would you want to take time out of your life to come here? Well, everyone has a different story, and some are more satisfied than others, but I honestly feel that coming to Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication has really given me a chance to find out alot about who I am as a photographer.
Being in grad school has helped me discover, why, on a very basic level, I am doing what I am doing, how I can do it better, and what the purpose is. Feeling some sense of purpose is very satisfying, even if everyone hates the work you produce from your sense of purpose. This “answer” I found here is attributed to the support of the faculty but also really to my classmates who I feel are about the best group of kids I could have had next to me in this journey. I was really given a chance to almost completely focus my life on my passion without worrying about getting work, paying bills (thanks scholarships and teaching jobs). I’ll never have a chance like this again and I’m glad I got out of it what I did. It’s a fantastic break from the real world here.
It’s a photojournalism sequence, sure, but I don’t think I am, nor will I ever be the completely typical photojournalist. It’s just so much more complex than that. Photography has become ingrained in everything I think about and it’s actually very liberating as strange as that may seem. I’ve always thought the obvious world was a strange place and I’m convinced I’ve found the best way to try and understand all of this.
Anyways, if any readers wants to chat with me about my experience here I am more than happy to tell you everything I think about this place. Just don’t be surprised if you want to apply after you talk to me.
As for now, I’m moving out of this strange, overly drunk Appalachian town and back to Naperville, IL where I grew up with plans to be in downtown Chicago within a year or so. I’ll be freelancing, and working on projects…I’ve already got a few things in mind and I’m pretty excited. If there’s one other thing I discovered here, it’s that I’m addicted to the freedom of working on my own.
Here’s to everyone in Athens that helped me along the way, I wish you all complete success in this absurdly tough industry. The battle’s just beginning. Don’t give up. I know I won’t.
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