‘NOSTALGIA’

I was born in the Philippines and moved to Seattle when I was 10 years old. I have never done any photography classes but I’ve always been that type of person that would bring out a camera and just shoot everything. People always ask me why I always take these pictures. Well, I’d like to capture as many photos as I can because it represents my experiences and memories. I like to imagine myself decades from now looking at photos I took as a teenage girl. My final project represents the new chapter of my life. I am going to the University of Washington this fall and in this photo, these are people I went to school with since middle school. Throughout middle school and High School, these people have seen my growth through these years. One day I'd like to look back and say “Thank God I took these photos”. 

My name is Evan and I am 18. I have been doing photography here at YiF for the past 4 years. Youth in Focus has been a welcoming and safe  space for me to express myself and do photography. I primarily use a 35mm film camera. I like the chill environment of the darkroom and am inspired by nature and plants.

This picture of plants is taken off a trail I visit often. I chose it because its large range in tonality and clarity fit with my greater style. I learned to spot tone for this picture because once it was dry I realized it was covered in dust. I’m excited to continue my journey as a photographer in college!

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My name is Paloma L., I live in Seattle, Washington and I am 16 years old. My final image is entitled 'lucky charms' and it portrays my sisters, Ruby and Angel, in our local Safeway. They are both holding a box of lucky charms which is our go-to breakfast every time we hang out. Ruby and Angel are both leaving for college this year and my final image helps to commemorate our time together. I only really got to know Angel this year but our friendship has meant so much to me and I am so excited for her and her UW era. I am so thankful to my sister and my mom for introducing me to Youth In Focus and for guiding me in my artistic, academic, and social life. Words cannot express the love, respect, and admiration I have for my sister and I know she will find success and excitement at Pratt institute in New York. In the future, I plan on taking many more YIF classes, I plan to continue being involved in their professional development paid internship program, and I plan on experimenting with many different mediums involving photography.

Talk Soon Beam is dedicated to my little sister Paloma, but to me, Beam. The name was born out of my inability to say Paloma in my young age of just 20 months when she was born. It started as, “baby ma” then, “Beamah,” then just, “Beam.” 

As I say my farewells to home in Seattle what will undoubtedly be the most tragic is parting ways with Paloma. She has been my photo walk buddy, second eye, and often my subject in the five years since I started taking photos. Thus, I choose to honor her immense role in my artistic journey as I conclude my time at Youth In Focus. 

I tell Paloma to pose as though she is Bigfoot and has just been spotted by the lens of my camera. As a filmmaker I attempt to develop in my photography, an authenticity of life, movement, and perhaps a world within the image. In Talk Soon Beam I channel the coming of age, carefree vibrance of 1980s romantic comedies and the grungy angst of the 1990s and early 2000s. Initially this image was shot on medium format film however I thought the rather intense crop added to the cinematic influence of the image. 

As for the doubling technique seen, it was, to quote Bob Ross, “a happy accident.” I had accidentally moved my paper while working on a test strip for the image and simply couldn’t resist recreating the “mistake” in the final print. 

To my little sister, how lucky am I to have grown alongside you. Talk soon.

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Distance 

I live in Seattle by Seward Park and it's one of my favorite places to go. The final image I chose is a picture of Seward Park taken from my house. I’ve lived in this house for the majority of my life, and it’s the view I've looked at for all that time. I chose this picture because I liked the sort of eerie vibe it has. And the best surprise, this is actually two pictures on top of eachother, called a double exposure. I love doing both taking pictures and actually printing them. I think they're both very different experiences and take different types of skills for each. Aside from photography I also like to draw, crochet, make jewelry and pottery. I enjoyed developing a better understanding of my personal style, my motivation this spring wasn't the best but I'm still happy with my work. I also have gained more skills and a much higher understanding of how to print in the darkroom.