Photo Series- for a contest

I wrote this for a scholarship I entered; tell me what you think!

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ All of us have grown up with aphorisms like these constantly being whispered into our childish ears; they are small bits of wisdom, expressed in such a way that turns literal lemonade into something

much more than just a cool, refreshing drink. No, the truth here does not lie within the lemonade- it lies within the process. I’m sure we have all, in our maturity, come to understand what this saying means. When life gives you something sour, perhaps undesirable, you take what you get and make the best that you possibly can of the situation. In the case of the lemons, you make lemonade. This optimistic standpoint is how I live my life; the glass is always half-full, not half-empty, it could be worse, and let’s face it- you can always make it better. The way that you perceive is the way by which you live-

and I am a firm believer that if you have the right mindset, then you can truly make your own happiness. This is what my set of photographs revolves around. They seem dreary, and have a dry color scheme that runs throughout the series, which attaches a dull, downhearted mood to them. But by viewing these images in a sequence, I hope to evoke an evolution and uplifting sense of spirit; one that begins with confused, dreary, and almost lonely feelings, and ends with a complete 180 degree turn on where the viewer thought they were headed. My purpose is to provide a new, positive outlook for the viewer after exposing them to photographs that relay unfavorable emotions by exposing them to even more photographs which uplift their spirits,

sending them forward with a new confidence and assurance that they can build off of- hopefully learning along the way that even within the most mundane experiences there can be found a promising outcome, one which ultimately you yourself create.