A Student’s Point of View: Moving Forward

Welcome back Tigers. I hope you are well and healthy. I’m stoked to be back in school, I missed having a sense of purpose or having a routine. Quarantine created battles for every one of us but we made back here to RIT even though it may have seemed like forever.

All we can do is move forward and this is what my first blog post for the year is going to be about. “How can we move forward, while advocating for ourselves and others with all the events that are taking place, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, COVID 19, and being quarantined most of the time. As people and as photographers, we  have the opportunity to be active or passive, vocal or silent, and quiet or loud. Moving forward is a great way to start the next semester. 

Looking back on the recent past, we all had a lot of situations that we were not prepared for. I now think we should use this time as an opportunity to prepare for our futures even though there will be many unexpected situations. I also believe we are allowed to take a break when we need to. Since we have only one mind and two hands that can only do so much, there are real limitations. Being an advocate for yourself means, to impose self-care, take a break, and speak your mind with others that you love. This will benefit your performance and keep your energy intact. Personally, I did a lot of self-care because the stressors around me were overwhelming. I think it helped me become a better person.

One question I think of often is “How can I be an advocate for others?” I believe sometimes we forget how to use our two ears for careful listening. Carefully listening to someone has the ability to change the world for the better. If we carefully listened more often, we would see and understand many other perspectives. As people, it’s natural for us to act quickly when a certain situation happens, but I think it’s important to pause and just consider.

I think this tool can be  important in photography, too. In photography we use our eyes mostly but other senses certainly pay a role in how to are inspired to photograph. Taking the time to understand the subject and then determining what we want will create will lead to better results rather than just acting quickly without thinking. Photography is a powerful tool. One picture can share thousands of words. Taking advantage of that power and using photography can feel right and create new purposes for your work.

Having good intentions for our photographs can set a positive tone, help us see in new ways, and find new meaning in the work we are producing in class. I think it is important to consider that our subjects have feelings and they are allowing us to photograph them. The images we produce can be permanent. Building a strong relationship with a subject will benefit us in the future and help keep us humble.

As a photography student, I have been using my photography to represent more diversity in my work. Photographing people of all ethnicities and sizes is instrumental for cultivating a greater understanding of others., We are all beautiful in our own unique way.

Moving forward could mean a lot of things so ask yourself “How do you want to move forward this semester?” I want to feel comfortable but being uncomfortable has become my new normal. That’s because or what we have been doing since the pandemic began to affect everyday life in the US in March.

In conclusion, I wanted to say It’s okay if you don’t adopt everything I suggested in this post but if you try only one things, that would be  a great start for making a better world.

by Emily Sudock

Emily SuDock is a third-year advertising photography student who is also cross-registered in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She has been hard of hearing most of her life. Emily was born in China adopted by her loving family. They are a big part of her life. Emily has a Nikon 600 with a 35 mm lens which she loves taking portraits with.