Tales of Tourism: Istanbul

Here's my piece from the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. I did a story that is completely different from anything I'd ever shot before. My instructor, Guy Calaf, has a very different vision from my own, but we care about many of the same things. He encouraged me to make pictures that are more suggestive than literal. It definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and I lost a few arguments over the final selection, but was a really interesting exercise and a heck of a lot of fun. I learned a lot from Guy, and I think we developed a really brilliant working relationship. I hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with him again in the future.

I feel as though I grew ages over the week of the workshop. I was shooting nearly every waking moment, and I took pages and pages of notes during classes, presentations, and panel discussions. I met dozens of creative people who care about the world. On the last night of the workshop, I was interviewed after accepting a really cool award. They asked me the most important thing I learned during the workshop. I thought about it for a while, and then said (with the articulateness of a Foundry student who hadn't slept in a week) it was that, as a photographer, my voice matters.

Up until now, I'd been trying to make myself small in stories, even trying to make myself disappear and letting my subjects speak for themselves. But I learned that it's important to express myself using photography, and to spend my time on work that exploits my knowledge, interest and talents. It's important to step back from the conversation, listen, and think about what I am adding to it.

I don't know if that's exactly what this piece does, or even if it's step in that direction. But, for me, it represents an important step towards thinking about my voice, and thinking about the bigger conversation. Thanks for watching.