I’m starting to realize I have a long month or so ahead of me with no school .. so I am trying to take stock of a lot of the photos I have shot since I really got serious about it just over two years ago. I started just loving being out by myself in nature….and due to circumstance I got work photographing people and events for newspapers, which I also really enjoyed. I think what I enjoyed most was the fact that the photos you make for a newspaper have a purpose, a purpose that is not just to make a pretty photo…the comes a far second to making a photo that helps tell a story…
As a newspaper photographer you have to work faster though … something that I like at times but during other instances I really enjoy taking 15 minutes to make one photo…and getting it right, as opposed to taking 150 photos in 15 minutes, only to take another 30 min to edit after that.
These are photos that in a way kind of show where I started, and hold something that I’d like to keep in photos I keep making…but with a bigger purpose than looking pretty. For instance, when I photographed this photo of the waterfall I just saw a pretty waterfall … now I think this photo would be much better coupled with background information about Uruapan State Park in Michoacan, Mexico and about the efforts that go into the area to keep it preserved…but also that much of the park has a man-made, almost fake feeling through such beautiful natural surroundings. This photo could be one of a few (that might not be pretty) that show what the park is really about…. and I could just be rambling due to available time and space…

or these photos of my friend here, whom I hardly ever see anymore. I was simply taking photos of my friend … but coupled with a story about how this cigarette is one of about 30 a day in between a few joints or bong hits and where this road has taken him I think can give these images new meaning. Seems simple enough, I know … but these are things I never thought about before I worked for newspapers. The words are so important sometimes.

Then again some photos are ruined by words … (apologies for dirty film scans)