POYi

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Incase you haven't heard the buzz from the photojournalism work, POYi is currently in session. It's honestly the three most exciting weeks on campus. I love just sitting in the dark room staring at beautiful images on the screen. I got roped into volunteering by my boyfriend John, and have been having a great time doing it! I've been moderating the chat room, and aside from a few commenters, it's been a great experience to hear what everybody has to say about the photographs and the judges discussion. This week, my friend Pablo Corral Vega is one of the judges. I met him two thanksgiving's ago in his home town of Quito, Ecuador. He was a fantastic host, and a really fantastic guy. His words about the photographs and about photojournalism in general have been so inspiring! There really isn't much to do in the moderator's chair, so I spent my free time jotting down a few of my favorite quotes.

"Photographs are like windows, you can see that person’s life. You can feel what that person feels. Photography is never objective, the photographer can make us feel the way they want. He/she could make anything feel like there is life. The photographer is making a choice- to show us that this place is bleak and hopeless."

"You cannot have enough beauty in the world. You have to FIGHT for it sometimes."

"There are so many issues in our own neighborhood that we are afraid to address. We need to realized that we do not need to travel around the world to find beautiful stories. We need love and death."

"It’s essential that that’s the photographer’s job- to put them out there to haunt and stay in people’s memories and motivate their lives and actions. "