Most people aspire to be policemen, firefighters, nurses or other traditional occupations when they are children. I was constantly caught up in the moment, not worried about the future. I never knew what I wanted to be. I did not have any single interest deep enough to give it any thought. When I got a little older and was admired for my writing abilities, I questioned wanting to be a journalist or an author. I have always been determined to convey a message with whatever it was I decided to do with my life. I began to feel as if writing was taking the easy way out. The majority of people communicate through words and sounds. Pictures can draw out feelings, memories, words, and sounds.

I look back now and can see that for most of my life I have had an eye for color and lighting. As a photographer I find myself analyzing focus, color, lighting, and other compositional factors, in my everyday life. The entire spectrum of colors fascinates me, so I have never had one particular favorite. I was raised to look at things scientifically first and foremost. The ability of the human eye to transmit signals related so strangely to color, contrast and focus is something I truly admire. I have always had a lot to say. When I looked through a viewfinder it hit me that I had never realized how beautiful some of the most common things in the world could be. Shapes and color and dimension began to catch my eye more and more as years passed by.

Plain and simple have never interested me. Taking something ordinary and making it look extraordinary gives me profound pride and a huge sense of accomplishment. I went through my childhood quiet and shy because I knew I was not the same as most kids. I had a yearning to be different. I wanted to fit in during middle school, but in my school fitting in was standing out in society. After middle school, I returned to a public school and it was like being a poor, unarmed goldfish dropped into a pool full of piranha. A goldfish with green hair, knee high socks, plaid skirts. There was a Constant pitter-patter of my brain seconds away from bursting out of my head. I had absolutely no clue of what to expect when I would stand up for myself. The fear of being shot down or told that I was wrong never hindered me though. My father always told me, in a way I would listen, that individuality was all we had.

yoshiisushi@gmail.com