What are your goals after graduation?
After graduation I want to become a fine art photojournalist. I would also like to travel for a while.

How will your education help you achieve your goals?
I’m doing a Fine Arts minor. I’m really interested in taking my photography out of the gallery and putting it into a public space. Right now I’m doing an independent study in installation and working on installation in correlation with my photography.

What is the most important thing the faculty has taught you?
You shouldn’t listen to people all the time. You shouldn’t take everyone’s opinion very seriously because there’s always somebody else who’s going to think it’s a lot better.

How do you balance traditional and digital photography?
Right now I’m in the transition between traditional and digital. For five years, I did traditional. I bought a digital camera about a year ago. Digital is about the opposite of film. I’m shooting 4”x5” film, scanning it in, and doing kind of a hybrid process.

How would you describe your work?
I’m really interested in social services, being able to exemplify that. I’ve been following a set of families and documenting everything they’ve been through for the past 2 ½ years. They just keep opening up more and more. They’re not just my subjects, they’re my friends. Through that I’ve discovered myself as a photojournalist.

I just turned in an application to exhibit at Crossley Gallery. I’m going to be doing an installation show with another student. When I do installations I do a lot with light and shadow and how they interplay, defining environment off of that. The other student deals more with defining environment from objects. So I think it’s going to be a really good collaboration.