PHOTOS BELOW

When Roxie died, I was four courses into my master’s in journalism. I withdrew for a few months and restarted because Roxie would not have wanted me to withdraw entirely… from school, from life.

I now have only four courses remaining. I take digital media courses (photography, video, audio, podcasting, etc.), because I can better express my philanthropic and investigative objectives. I also do so to channel my grief into something other than my own body and mind.

Grief can be debilitating. It can also be a powerful tool. For anyone enduring despair, take time to engage the entire spectrum of emotions. Don’t dismiss any of them. Also consider channeling this unavoidable energy into some practice or purpose. Although such action is challenging at the very least, it opens new windows and doors to expression, to life.

For this assignment, I was required to shoot seven photographs:
- Shallow depth of field (Small portion of the frame is highly focused)
- Deep depth of field (a wide frame in which all elements are largely focused)
- Intentional motion blur
- Intentional frozen motion
- Low image noise (not grainy)
- High image noise (grainy)
- Random shot of my choosing

I took Roxie’s umbrella and used it as a proxy for her. I wanted to illustrate how she is everywhere with me all of the time. She is darkness and light, trees and mountains, color and the absence thereof. I She loved the rain, which is, of course, scarce here in SoCal. We had some of our most joyful moments in life literally dancing and singing in the rain. Therefore, I also tried to represent her umbrella as a barometer for contrast between joy and loneliness, protection and vulnerability, life and lifelessness.