Project Summary

I am going to discuss the work I have put into the project, and take you through my journey to help you better understand my process, the time I spent on it and how I came to the final product.
My boss Brio Yaipan invited me to the trip and the process getting there wasn’t so easy. I had decided to go last minute so I had to drive to Philly and wait all day for my passport. When they day arrived, I had spent hours getting my passport, shots, and packing for the trip. I brought all of my camera equipment with me. I used a side slung bag to carry everything, and I brought a minimal amount of clothing. The trip took 25 hours to fly. It was a long flight but I met some nice people and slept. I took photos throughout the trip everyday.
I had my camera on my back from 7 -9 am in the morning to 8 pm at night. I was constantly shooting, interacting with the people at the well, and giving gifts that I had brought. When I was finished shooting each day, I would journal, help work on the Well Aware blog. I processed photos, and recounted the day. This would take a few hours, and I usually went to bed at 12 am or later. I spent two weeks on that schedule. I took 2609 photos and 7 videos.

When I returned I took a week or so off to reflect on my trip without the visuals. I came to many different conclusions about my trip in that time. I loved Africa with its beauty, mystery, and enchantment; however I love home and Kenya has lots of problems. I sifted through the photos slowly, looking at each image and seeing what stood out to me. I took photos of the mundane shopping trips to vibrant colors of the Maasai’s Shukas and Congas. I looked at certain details that would help me later remember the details of the place, to help me better represent Kenya. I wanted to have an authentic depiction of my trip, to better show others my journey.
I went through the thousands of photos I took and started breaking it down. I thought I had picked out my favorite 900 at some point, however each time I revisited it I found new photos to work through. I processed many photos, which took many hours. As part of my process, I usually will work a photo for a bit to see what comes out.
I worked on my artist statement for a long time; I keep struggling with what I should focus on and how to bring thousands of photos to one body of work. I came to a conclusion, after reading many books on the history of Kenya and much reflection. I should follow my heart. I realized that my main focus in my life and in my work has always been people. I struggled to put that into words and I interviewed myself, then writing multiple rough drafts. I printed two sets of images for my project, and cut and prepared them. For my showing, I prepared the images and put them on foam core to hang. I hung the images, finished the video, and set up the projector for my show. I will then edit the images I take of the show and upload them to my blog. I created a blog for this project, editing the layout, and putting images/ video together. After much hard work, my project was completed.