You
used to be so afraid of the word failure it was so daunting to me this
concept of losing out on an opportunity I've always been interested in art and
I used to love drawing painting but when I started to pick up a camera and
photograph people I realized that it was just a way for me to really connect
with them and learn kind of give me a bridge if I was just walking down the
street I wouldn't walk up to someone and just start a conversation typically but
my camera gave me a reason to have those conversations with people I had always on
my way to school passed some of the same street corners and seen some of the
same people sitting there with coffees asking for money people that I was sure
probably didn't have homes of their own and I was so curious about their stories
and how did they end up here what happened to them to bring them to this
place and I used that project as the first time that I really got up the
guts to approach those people and walk up to them and explain that I was a
student and just ask if I could buy them a coffee and ask them some questions
about their lives and after that experience I just found it was so easy
to just sit and connect with other people and they had so much to say and I
was learning so much about them just through the platform of taking their
photograph and it was after that that I really felt like whoa this is why I love
photography so much I've experienced a lot of sadness in hearing people's
stories of trauma and different situations but ultimately I feel really
inspired and driven and motivated when I'm working with people in that
capacity because I feel like if people in the most dire situations can find a
way to keep moving forward that inspires me and to capture that with my camera I
just feel so empowered to have the means to share that with other people
I was in New York at a photo plus expo I went and heard
a lot of different documentary photographers speak and one of the
photographers I remember was Gerd Ludwig his documentary work has always
inspired me and he said to us you have to remember when you are photographing
people in situations of trauma or who have experienced a lot of pain in their
lives you for an instant with your camera are magnifying that pain you have
to have the compassion but also the empathy and awareness that you may be
making things harder for them in that moment the thing that's at the top of
my mind when I've been photographing people is to be bringing forth
compassion and love I might not be able to understand what exactly they're
going through it may be something that I can't even relate to but I'm always
trying to show up as somebody with the best of intentions and show them that
I'm not there to threaten them or exploit their situation I'm there
because I want to understand more about it and I want to use my work to try and
make things ultimately better for them and give them a voice
coming home has always been a challenge hit with the realization of how good we
have it because I was a woman born in Canada I automatically have had
opportunities and the gift of education that I never would have had basic
human rights that I have here that I may not have had if I were born elsewhere so
every time I come home it reminds me of why I'm doing what I'm doing and I feel
a responsibility I had a lot of fear I had a lot of fear moving forward thinking
maybe I'm going to put this work out to the world and it's not going to resonate
with anyone maybe it's not going to make the difference that I envision and that
I feel like I want to make in this world maybe I don't have what it takes to do
that
I know that if I would not have gone through all of the failures I have
experienced and all of the lessons and rejections I simply would not be where I
am now the biggest things that I regret are the
things I didn't do because I was afraid of failing do not be afraid of this
