It has been several weeks since I have revisited and continued my photography journey through this course. It definitely has been more eye-opening than I ever expected or imagined. When I first introduced myself, I was filled with a blend of excitement and nostalgia. I reminisced my past experiences with photography. From learning with my peers, creating solo projects, participating in events, and even attending workshops, these all flooded to me at first. I was also eager to learn but was also nervous about whether my current ideas and skills would still match up to what I wanted to be for this course. I tried to recall the lessons and techniques that I learned through the years and whether I could apply them through my experiences here.

To try and capture the intricate balance between technical precision and the storytelling that drives every powerful image is a difficult task and after going through Units 1 and currently Unit 2, I definitely have much more to practice. However, after completing and participating in the past assignments, meetings, and discussion forums, I can see progress in my views. I now have a greater understanding in my photography journey. My early uncertainty has gradually given way to a deeper confidence, even as I continue to wrestle with the same questions I had at the start. I still wonder how I could catch up to several of my classmates, who seemed filled with creativity and technical expertise. However, after going through and learning from their projects, I grew rather inspired instead of discouraged despite the gap in technical expertise and current vision. I have found a new level of respect in viewing and participating in discussions and assignment entries as there have been perspectives from my classmates that I have encountered that could have possibly not crossed my mind without being pointed out.

Every assignment, every discussion forum, every zoom meeting has offered me a first-class seat in a theatre where the broader views and capabilities of my peers and my faculty in charge have been nourishing me with new and developing wisdom. It has been both a challenge and an enjoyable experience to see that the so called “perfection” isn’t a fixed target but an evolving process. Seeking further understanding and further knowledge of a subject only brings forth the reality that I have still much to learn. I remember the first time I compared my work side-by-side with a peer in our class that I really deemed really good and interesting. While their images seem to be rather simple to a beginner’s eyes, the images that they took where executions of experience, creative minds, and shared visions with others. I realized that these types of images that were really beautifully composed were not unattainable peaks but rather milestones along a shared journey. This understanding has encouraged me to embrace criticism as a vehicle for growth rather than as a confirmation of inadequacy. The feedback exchanged in class discussions has not only sharpened my technical skills but also enriched my creative vision, nudging me to explore new composition strategies and to experiment freely with other elements, principles, and techniques in photography. It’s reassuring to see that many of us are experimenting with similar techniques and that we each bring our unique flavor to the same fundamental concepts.

Looking forward, I am now only filled with excitement and anxiousness to what our next assignments would be and how we would tackle it. I haven’t seen or heard anything about the tasks made for MMS 173, nonetheless I hope I can gear myself better to tackle it with my creative mind. Despite not seeing any of the work of the alumnus of MMS 173, I do hope that I could live up and perhaps exceed the quality of work that they have done in this course. I hope I could enhance and practice my storytelling more through my photographs as well as the other techniques that we have been learning throughout the course. The next tasks will serve as benchmarks to where I am at and I am only eager to find out my progress.

Reflecting on the course as a whole, I’m grateful for every moment of struggle and every instance of breakthrough. There are topics where I needed to hone in more on what was being taught. I could see that I still lack the expertise in critiquing through writing and through visual inspection. I need to have a more open-minded approach when viewing our course work. Instead of doubting myself, I need to be able to do more rather than storing up the concepts in my mind. I need to further practice what I am learning in order to see results.
I do hope that my schedule allows me to participate in the upcoming Face-to-Face meeting as I think it is a great opportunity to both meet my peers, gather insights, and participate in a physical class.