I am a senior majoring in digital arts and photography and minoring in journalism. I focus a lot of my time on taking photographs and free writing. I like digital photography as well as film photography. Black and white photography has become my outlet for many things.
The series I'm displaying for my senior show is much more of an internal thing than external, I believe. I chose the pieces because after this summer, and after many changes in my life, I decided I needed to grow as an artist, to meet like-minded people and I wanted to push myself. The photographs aren't exactly fine-art based. Instead, they push people through my journey of meeting 50 different individuals and learning through their thoughts and their ideas on many topics.
I want people to know that there are people in Generation Y (people born between 1980-2000) that are good and want to help make change. I don't want people to think my show is about me making a revolution of any sort, but rather a way to start conversations about making change and for older generations to see that yes, some of us are African American, Caucasian, Asian, bisexual, gay, lesbian, etc., but we are all here. So instead of looking at the differences as a negative thing, I want older generations to see we can embrace them and just live the dream. Run wild, explore, stay up late and meet new people.
My one piece of advice for incoming art students is don't be afraid to do something that others aren't doing and don't be afraid to do things that people don't think are possible. Everyone thought I would stop after meeting 25 people, but I pushed through it and met 50. You could be the next big artist, but it all depends on how serious and disciplined you are and want to be.
BY TAYLOR JENSEN
Arts and Entertainment Editor