Rachel DuCharme

I was nine years old when I received my first camera. It was a small, bulky, and hot pink point-and-shoot camera that could only hold about a hundred photos. There was no place I would travel without it. From my grandma’s house, to hiking, to literally just driving in a car, nine year old me would never leave it desolate. Although, she did leave it out in a thunderstorm. Twice.

I guess if I had to trace back where my love of photography originated, this memory would be one to highlight. Now, as a senior in highschool, the immature urge to carry around my camera at all times has slowly been substituted with my constant obsession of pushing myself to take more and more extraordinary photos when given the opportunity. I find myself always engaged with the prospect of communicating my creative perspective of the world through a camera lens. Whether coming to fruition via the use of colored lighting, props, editing, or even just posing a model slightly different, the vast arrangements of tools at hand allows me to show my creative outlook on what others may find dull. Not only this, but the simple fact of making someone finally see themselves as the beauty they are fills me with so much joy. Many times I have come across a person who finds that their photos might be unflattering because of how they view themselves, only to be shocked by the end result. Or watching someone be fearful of posing, then to see them slowly gain more confidence as they begin to believe they are worthy of being in front of the camera and the center of attention. It’s heartwarming and soul-fulfilling to a degree that I cannot explain except to other photographers, even in regards to how pretentious it sounds.

As I look into the future, my career in photography expands outwards although in another medium not shown through my artwork on display. My passion for film. To summarize, as I grew up loving photography, I also grew up to love the art of telling stories through movies. For this reason, I will continue to study Film and Television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating, I hope to do one of two things. If by the off chance I find myself in the capacity to work on Hollywood films, I would easily be passionate about entering the entertainment industry. However, my realistic plan for graduating is to manage my own ad agency and generate various commercial work for businesses.