A P E R S O N A L J O U R N E Y I N A R T

By Madeline Oakley

When I began my photographic journey, I was as young as 8 years old I had my iPhone 6, and I would go into my backyard and take pictures Once, when I was 10, I almost cut myself by sticking my hand into a tomato bush for a picture, but I liked how it turned out, so it was worth it to me The reason I loved photography so much as a kid was because it allowed me to see the world differently I would look at a basketball hoop from right under it, or a flower from super close up, or the side of a wall that I would never have paid attention to

Photography, for years, has been showing me how to look at the world differently At different angles, perspectives, and all kinds of ways. By taking something simple, like a leaf, and photographing the beauty of it, I've learned a lot about how beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. When composing a photograph, you can choose to make it dark and creepy, or light and beautiful. The same thing is true with life. You can compose your view of the world to see the darkness, or to see the beauty- or my favorite, to see the beauty in the darkness. You can take a quick picture without thinking about it, and not pay attention to the life around you, or you can take a moment to notice the little things and to appreciate them.

Not only has photography helped me slow down and appreciate the things around me, but it has also helped me to understand myself and has really helped me with my self-expression When taking a photograph, I typically like one thing to be the focus and I add other elements on top of it For example, I'll want a picture of a rose, and decide to paint it, then put it on a stand against a backdrop, then have the paint drip off of it I genuinely think that noticing this has helped me understand myself and how I always

overcomplicate things and how I try to make things the best I can

By creating photographs, especially portraiture, I've realized what traits I look for in myself and what my version of beauty is I think so many people are beautiful, but in different ways I think some people have a darker beauty, some people have a lighter beauty, some people have a softer beauty, and some people have a tougher beauty Photography has helped me understand this-- that everyone possesses a unique type of beauty that can only be found within that one person Everyone is beautiful, it just takes the right style and the right photograph to highlight that beauty and to bring out the life in a person I think that, along with the insides of photography, the type of photos that I take help me cope with my feelings and with my traumas. I use photography to give the audience a feeling, to make them feel how I feel, so that I can be more understood. Usually, this comes with darker photography, or odd, uncomfortable angles. But however I decide to do it, photography is a medium perfect for me in the way that I can really show myself through my art. I can take something real and show how I see it, or how it makes me feel.