Photojournalist #1: Susan Meiselas
Everyone's interpretation of motivation is different. People find motivation in many areas of their life, while others might have one specific thing that motivates them. The photojournalist, Susan Meiselas, connected motivation to knowing where she wants to go in life. In an article,
Susan Meiselas: On Motivation, Her Legacy and the Future of Photojournalism, she stated
“Finding the place from which you work is a key thing that only you can do, it’s the deep motivation of life. It takes time and you explore it as deeply as you can, and you learn from your own process.” This means that if you don’t know what you want or where you want to go in life, how could you actually be motivated. You have to have a goal you want to accomplish in order to get motivated to get there. Susan is saying she gets here motivations from making her own decision and focusing on the place she wants to work. In the video,
Lynn Johnson Women in Photojournalism, she states
“documenting women issues feels like a responsibly as a woman photographer”. I feel like this connects to Susan because she was one of the first women in her field to make a name for herself and prove that women are capable of a “man” job. Both Lynn and Susan worked hard and used the fact that women aren’t represented enough in the photojournalist field to motivate themselves to work harder.
Photojournalist #2: Edward Echwalu
Edward Echwalu is a photojournalist based in Kampala, Uganda. His work has been published globally as he focuses on developmental issues and coving breaking news stories. In a video,
Edward Echwalu – A Photographers’ Motivation, he states
“What motivates me today, is to inform generally. I am in a privileged position to visually talk about issues that affect my friends, talk about my community, and issues that affect me. I try to use my pictures to communicate a message that is diverse, able to inform someone, that is able to educate someone, able to change someone's perspective.” He uses his images to let everyone know what truly happening in the community, whether is good or bad. He knows he has the resources and platform to inform and make those aware of what is going on that they might not be able to see. In the video,
Gordon Parks: My Advice to Young Black People, he said:
“The first thing you have to have is desire and then you have to have the courage to fulfill that desire.” This advice from Gordon connects to Edward because he had a desire being that he wanted to inform people of what is going on in the community. He developed the courage to fulfill his desire by taking photos and making sure his photos were available for everyone to see. I definitely agree with Gordon that if you want something you have to have the desire for it and build that courage up so you can keep chasing that desire. When you want something, you have to put in work for it and continue to work toward that goal no matter how hard it might get.
Photojournalist #3: Esther Havens
A photojournalist that I found, stemmed her motivations from a similar aspect to the previous photojournalists discussed before was, Esther Havens. She is a humanitarian photographer that captures stories centered around a person’s circumstances and shows their true self. In the video,
A conversation with Esther Havens: The Gathering Dallas 2015, she states
“I want people to feel comfortable and if they aren’t comfortable then you won’t see who they really are.” God told Esther who she really is and how he wants her to look at people around her for who they are and not what she thinks of them. She took that and made it her mission to take pictures of people who felt their most comfortable with her and didn’t feel pressured to take the image. She didn’t want to be that photojournalist who takes pictures where you can tell they just shoved a camera in someone’s face without them being prepared or consenting for it. She knew that taking pictures of people was more than just capturing a good shot, she set out to capture the truth behind the people. Her goal is to capture the real, raw truth behind someone’s story instead of just snapping whatever looks good. In the video,
Kenyan Photojournalist, Masi stated
“I could see the pain through my lens but then I could see hope through these people because the way people talked about these images. That just made me feel that I’m actually doing something of value that this is my path.” He believed that he was giving these people a way to share their stories and the struggles they endured. Both Esther and Masi were trying to share real stories through their photographs, no matter how happy and upsetting they were.
What Motivates me?
There are many things I see as a motivation for myself. It
stems mainly from family, happiness, helping others, success, and breaking the
barriers. I work hard and strive so much solely to make my family proud. Being the
first kid in my family to attend college is a huge deal to me. I know how hard
my family has worked to get me to this point so I make sure I’m giving my all
in everything I do. I want my family to know that all their money, blood, sweat, and tears did not go to waste. In the end my hard work will pay off and having a
degree that belongs to me will allow me to find a career. The overall feeling of
succeeding motivates me because I want to look back on my life and be happy
with everything I did. I don’t want to regret not doing anything or not
accomplishing a goal I knew I could have if I just worked a little harder for it. I want to be able to provide a lifestyle that I have always dreamed of for my family and myself. I also want to give back to those who have given to me and those who just need the help. I believe a few of my motivations are similar to the photojournalist because we all want to leave an impact and make a change. We also have a passion and want to be successful, whether its in the photojournalist field or my career path.
 |
Motivation Map
Photo by Ariyon Mickle |
Comments
Post a Comment