Final Project- finished work.

artist statement:

When one goes on vacation, things appear brighter, more beautiful, and somehow better than the place we call home. Is it possible that this is reality? Or is the answer more likely that we only imagine that it is so?

       This series of photographs was taken during a recent trip to Hawaii’s Big Island. While there, I could not put my camera down, as every sight I encountered seemed somehow magical.

       I am interested in the value we assign to photographs taken on special vacations. Are they really as extraordinary as we believe? Or do we elevate their beauty from the emotional ties we have to them?

side note:~I took over 400 photographs like these on my trip. When I later went through to review them, I could not allow myself to delete any of them, even the blurry and out of focus shots. I have become so attached to these images, I almost have a superstition that  I need them all just in case I ever somehow forget the experience and need proof that it was not a dream.~