American photographer Dorothea Lange once said, “A camera teaches you how to see without a camera.” Photography has been one of the most significant and treasured forms of education for me in terms of experiencing, understanding, respecting, and appreciating the colorful world in which we live. And, if you will excuse the pun, it enables us to view the world through an entirely different lens.
I am at my happiest when traveling around the world with camera in hand, interacting with the dear, beautiful people I meet along the way. I will never take for granted the opportunity to capture these special, once-in-a-lifetime moments with strangers. I have had the privilege of traveling and studying with incredible photographers like Steve McCurry in Rajasthan, India (@stevemccurryofficial); being unexpectedly delayed for an extra night in Laos with Los Angeles Center of Photography’s Julia Dean (@juliadean_la_streetshooter); and standing on a makeshift scaffold photographing the athletic fishermen over Lake Inle, Myanmar, with Tim Mannakee (@timmannakee). I owe them a world of gratitude for all that they have taught me -- and shown me. As a resident of Laguna Beach, California, I feel so very blessed to be part of a community that has attracted and celebrated so many accomplished artists since its beginning. I hope that in some small way, my photography will do justice to our creative little village of Laguna Beach -- and to the larger world village we all inhabit together. Jayme |