#firstcomestrust2015

Mylasia by Niki Walker

THE PROJECT

Mylasia Blocker is a typical 12-year-old girl. Kind, funny, and genuinely curious, she is unbelievably easy to like. She was born blind, with optic nerve hypoplasia, or underdeveloped optic nerves. She was never supposed to see. Her eyesight began to develop when she was young, and at age four she began to identify her colors. Her mother describes the day she found out that Mylasia could see as her “favorite day in life.” A few years later, her vision plateaued and slowly began degrading again. Her doctor predicts that she will be blind again between the ages of 16 and 18.

Today, she can see somewhat, but her eyesight is far from perfect. Technically speaking, it is 20/600 – which means that she can see a standard letter size from 20 feet away, whereas someone with normal vision could see the same letter from 600 feet away. As Mylasia puts it, she “can't rely on [her] eyes.”

At the end of the day, her story isn’t about eyesight. It’s about growing up and what it means to fit in.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

My Capstone taught me the importance of teamwork. It was essential during group editing and critique in class. I figured out that I want to pursue collaborative work environments after graduation, because video is overwhelming when you’re working as a one-man band. In a way, Mylasia, her family, and I also made up a team — I couldn’t have done this story without them; it was a collaboration.

TRUST

Trust was incredibly important for my project. I was a stranger asking to come into Mylasia's home, and that tension was incredibly evident in my early work. Nobody was very comfortable — not Mylasia, her parents, or myself. Before I could come in and be like a fly on the wall, I had to take the time to cultivate relationships, to show that I was truly interested in Mylasia's life. This meant slowing down, putting down my camera, and opening myself up to the people around me. As soon as I started to do that, everything went more smoothly.

IF I WERE A FRUIT…

I would be a mango, because mangos are cool and fresh.

PORTFOLIO

Through Chance By Choice by Alyssa Hunter

THE PROJECT

“I haven’t had a blood family, but I’ve been able to create a family. This is true most of my life at various times, whether it’s been a formal family or not,” said Bonny.

The concept of the traditional family, as defined by the Work and Family Researchers Network, is the natural reproductive unit of a mom, a dad, and children all living under one roof. Traditional families are being phased out in favor of more unconventional relationships.

Bonny Mayer saw a flier for a family portrait and decided that this was as good a time as any to formally invite her close friends to be apart of her family. After thinking back to which ones had been the most instrumental in her life, a list of 18 people was drawn up. Everyone felt honored to be considered her family, and they all met one Sunday to take a family portrait. It has been four years since that picture was taken and a few others have joined the family. This project gives insight on what it’s like to be apart of Bonny’s family.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

This year long project has taught me a number of different things. One of the best lessons I took away was to really know your story. Be able to describe it in a single sentence. Make sure it is a pure idea that you can know from all angles, and once you do, storyboard every chance you get. My project originally started out larger, but with all of the different pieces to it, my story was becoming cluttered. I wanted to do more with this project because I was graduating, but simplifying my story gave me a clearer focus.

TRUST

I spent my summer in Rochester, NY getting to know Bonny. I would bring my camera with me, but I didn’t use it for a couple of weeks. Instead I listened. She told me so many amazing stories from her invisible childhood friend, Jimmy, to when she was with baby elephants in Thailand. She told me so much about her life, and I was just as open with her. There was a time over the summer when it felt that all of the walls had been broken down. We were more like friends spending time together rather than photographer and subject. In turn, her family was very welcoming to me because they saw that Bonny trusted me. That’s when my story really started.

IF I WERE A FRUIT…

If I was a fruit, I would be a pineapple. Once you cut through the exterior, the inside is sweet and delicious. Pineapples also grow in warm climates, and once they are ready, they are sent around the world where they can mix with all kinds of other fruits.

PORTFOLIO

Nashvilles by Dan Witkowski

THE PROJECT

Nashvilles is an exploration of the culture surrounding country music and its fans as it appears at a country and western themed bar located in Henrietta, NY just 15 minutes south of Rochester. Through the project I have been able to ask questions about American culture, exploring how the exhibition of passion towards an essential music genre reflects on themes such as patriotism. Country music has become far more popularized over the past 20 years due to artists performing in larger arena and crossing over into more mainstream genres. This has caused the music to expand regionally out of the South and West. Nashvilles exemplifies this shift, playing top 40 country hits over their speakers to a newer base of fans in upstate New York. The work does not follow a group of regulars or take you deeper into the personalities of this one bar. Rather, it asks broader questions of Country culture at large in relation to the way that this music has affected the fans American experience.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

I learned most from this experience to be honest with yourself and your work, saying what needs to be said in the way that you are able to interpret it. Everyone will have a different opinion of your work. A critique will tell you to go one way and someone else will lead you in the opposite direction. Essentially it is your work and ultimately you are the one who will have to live with it. So be honest with yourself and honest with the way that you work. I have failed and been beaten down throughout most of this process. However, I have begun to find solace in my ability to be honest with myself. This is what I’ve gained.

TRUST

In my project, I had to build and gain trust each and every night I was at Nashvilles. There was the initial trust I needed to gain from the owners and staff at the bar. And then I gained the trust of some of the regulars. But the crowd changes every night. New faces and new personalities. Trust became a constant and changing force throughout the entirety of my process.

IF I WERE A FRUIT…

If I were a fruit I would be a kiwi. I do not know if I’ve ever had a kiwi but they are green on the inside and have relatively thin skin.

PORTFOLIO

New Roots by Sarah Ann Jump

THE PROJECT

New Roots is the story of the Kamali family’s first year in America after fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They lived for four years as refugees in Ethiopia before they were finally able to resettle in a permanent new home. They arrived in Rochester, N.Y. on Tuesday, February 4, 2014, exhausted and excited to start a new life in America. 

Over the course of the year, each member of the Kamali family adjusted to life in America at their own pace. Nyirazana is a widowed mother of six. When she arrived, she spoke no English and was disabled due to a spinal injury. Her brother, Muhire, stepped in as the patriarch of the family and helped them build a new life.

Their story is told through an interactive website that combines images, audio, text and graphics.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

I learned that you have to tell the story that is there, not what you think it is. Some people look at my final story and tell me that I made it too positive. And I honestly went into the story thinking it was going to be very hard for the family and that’s what I wanted to show. But the Kamali family showed me over and over again that they were simply thankful to be here, no matter how hard it is. Muhire says it best: “When you are starting a new life, everything is difficult. You have to be able to stand for it. If I have been able to stand for my life in insecurity, it is easier to stand for my life when I have stability. In time, everything becomes easier.”  

TRUST

The Kamali family began trusting me almost immediately, which completely amazes me. I was present at the airport when they arrived, and I photographed in a reserved way so that I was not overbearing because they were not expecting me. They arrived just before midnight after a full day of flights, so their caseworker and I decided that we would wait until they were well-rested before proposing the project to them. The next time I saw them was at the motel they spent the night as their house was being prepared. I spoke with the translator before hand to explain my project and the level of access I was requesting. He was a refugee himself, so he understood the intention of my project. I brought the family prints from the moment they arrived at the airport and used the translator to ask for their permission to photograph them. They agreed immediately. They let me into every aspect of their lives and I was careful to respect this level of trust. I would visit without taking pictures to show them I thought of them as more than just “photo subjects”, that I truly care about them as people. They began telling me that I was a part of the family, which meant the world to me. 

IF I WERE A FRUIT…

I’d be out on a limb. 

“You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is.” -Will Rogers 

PORTFOLIO