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My story begins in 8th grade I was in creative expressions at Perkiomen Valley Highschool. My teacher was great, she taught us to think deeply and freely. I always had a problem with saying things I felt. On one hand, I was open and honest but on the other, I did not have many friends. Being in this class was teaching me to have expression and to be proud of it.
One part of the marking period we took on photography, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I used my iPod touch and took photos of everything in my sight. I had this excitement, this surge of how I could be creative. Everywhere I went I took photos, half of them I never edited or even kept but this class started my photography journey. People were excited about seeing my photos, my friends/family, etc, and it made me happy. I remember my photo got hung in the hallway and the feeling was so much more than anything I ever felt before. Photography in that moment showed me that I could express myself and my creativity. Sophomore year of highschool I took Intro to Graphic design as well as graphic design one the following year. During my senior year I was finially able to take photogrpahy because I got my camera for Christmas in 2016. I kind of forgot about photogprahy in a way during the time frame from creative expressions to senior year. yeah, I was still taking photos, but it wasn't the same as when I was in class. While I was in my graphic design classes my teacher saw my photographs and said he wanted me to take the class. He was my favorite teacher in high school. He helped me improve my art as well as pushed me to be proud of my work. His name was Mr. Komp and he had the greatest impact on my art. He taught me a lot, and his class changed my view on art entirely. I was always the kid that was creative but never thought I could pursue art as a career because I was never great at painting or drawing and I thought, if I couldn’t do that I couldn't be an artist. Mr. Komp taught me that that wasn’t the case at all. If I had to attribute my photography to anyone it would be him. First Photos He taught me all the basicas that I know. People always say anyone can take photos but to be a photographer you have to have something different. He always told me that, told me that I see the world in a different eye and that always meant the world to me. He taught me the details of the settings. He started my photographic literacy, envolped me into the world of the camera. He taught me how to use my settings, the different meanings of different program modes on the camera, he even taught me unique techiniques to use. Most important of all, he taught me to be me with my photographs. he taught me to be proud of the images I take, and to show them off. I remember back to asking him what edit he liked better and he would always ask the question back to me, sometimes even come over and yell to just choose one. Which sounds bad but it was hilarious, and in the end it taught me to be confident (even if I still ask people which edit they like better). Taking his class changed my view entirely. The evolution of my photographs from beginning to end was kind of crazy. Beginning of Class End of Class Mr. Komp also pushed me to enter my photos into contests and other things, but I always came up with excuses, mostly because I was nervous that they wouldn't get anywhere. But with him pushing me I eventually had the courage to enter a contest to have my image on postcards sent out by Wings for Success a women’s organization to help get donations. He also submitted my photos to two contests during my senior year. One of which won a purchase prize at Touch The Future Art Show (it is in the bottom left of the cover image) and is on permanent display at the PSEA regional office. As well as a woman’s club contest where I placed second with the same image. Wings For Success Photo PSEA and Women's Club Photo Photography through highschool showed me that I could have a voice, and it also showed me that I could make people happy with my photographs. My highschool photo expierience had a massive impact on me. It made me realize that I loved photogprahy, that I wanted to continue doing it in some way. During my senior year Mr. Komp started putting on First Friday's for the art students. One of the Fridays he invited Josiah Blizzard from Josiah and Steph Photography, a PV Alumni, and wedding photographer. He came and talked to the art classes about his job, how he got there, etc. During this time I was also thinking about my senior internship. Senior year at PV students have the opportunity to do an internship for the last few weeks of the smeester. When Josiah came I mentioned it to him and asked if he would ever take a student from PV as an intern, and he said yes. The internship opportunity that I had was probably one of the most important things to happen to me. During that internship I learned so much.
Mr. Komp taught me the techniques, and technicals of photography and how to be me, Josiah on the other hand taught me how to evolve my style and how the business side of photography translates to life. During my internship I learned a lot about branding and how that would translate to my business. I completely remade my website to pretty much what it is now Lynzie Ann Photography, because before it was a quick portfolio. He taught me how to keep clients and interact with them and he taught me how important it is to over-deliver. During my internship I would say I became more literate with the photogprahy world. I learned more words related to photography like culling, I learned different ways to edit, programs that could be used, and much more. Josiah also pushed me to figure out my unique style of photos, which translates into the way I edit now. During this time I also created a tagline for myself that I still go by to this day “ Capturing a Moment in Time that Will Never be Exactly the Same Ever Again”. During the internship I went on an engagement and wedding shoot with Josiah as well, and after the internship ended I went on to photograph three weddings by myself and about 5 engagements i believe. This internship also led me to doing 2 weddings on my own after it ended. That being said I also learned that I do not like photographing weddings. Don’t get me wrong I think wedding images are beyond beautiful, but personally to me I don’t love doing them myself. This internship taught me a lot about who I am as a photographer. Intership Images I finally knew what I wanted to do. I applied to go to art school and after applying to all the art schools I visited Kutztown with my English teacher. I learned they had a social media program which I was interested in from the second I heard the admissions women talk about it. I applied as soon as I got home, as a backup to the art schools. A week or two later I found out that I got accepted into The University of the Arts. I was given a scholarship called The Dean's Award for Artistic Merit of 18,000 dollars renewable every year. I was shocked, I learned Merit-Based awards are highly selective which means I was hand-chosen for it. I then got an additional 5,000 dollar scholarship. The University of the Arts was an amazing option and I was shocked I got in, however, I soon realized it would not be the best choice for me. In the end, I chose Kutztown, and I am happy with my choice. Weeks after choosing Kutztown I found out that I got into all the other art schools I applied to Even after getting accepted to them Kutztown was still my choice overall. Here I can take photography classes as well as social media classes, and I go home on the weekends and do shoots if I choose. Being here at Kutztown and taking photography has taught me a lot. I took darkroom, and though I appreciate the class I learned that developing negatives, though very incredible is not my favorite thing in the entire world mostly because I get dizzy in complete darkness (weird, I know). I also took an intro to digital in which I was able to create my first photobook and I am currently taking Themes and Practices: Bookmaking. Booking is a complete area in and of itself. Even just 6 weeks into the class I have come across countless hiccups in the process, but I enjoy it so much (even if it stresses me out). The craft of making a book and eventually having a finalized version in your hand is just a unique feeling as well. I love the craft of making photo books, the sequencing. I love stylizing shoots to have cohesion in a book as well as creating the ideas. Being able to create my first book this semester was a book I had so much fun making. It was completely my choice, a shoot that I planned and created in my head. The book went along with that. My Books
My photography connects me to literacy in various ways. I attribute how I connected this literacy to C.H. Knoblauch in the reading “Literacy and the Politics of Education, The Right to Literacy, 1990. The author showed literacy for personal growth. “Language expresses the power of the individual imagination so that nurturing a person’s reading and writing abilities enables the development of that power, thereby promoting the progress of society through the progress of the individual learner” (pg 6). This to me meant that the author was trying to show people that making people literate leads them to social empowerment. This shows people's individual path to literacy. However, I also believe literacy as personal growth can mean many things. The other meaning to me is that people use different things to learn literacy. For me, it is a camera, that I use to express myself. For others, it could be their writing, their paintings, things they build, programs they code, etc.
When I was at my beginning stages of taking photos I quite literally learned an entirely new language and vocabulary. I learned words and programs that I never knew before. I also realized quickly that photography is a whole community. Every type of photography has its own smaller community within the bigger picture of the photographic community. For me, I joined so many communities and I have talked to so many different people because of it. Photography also helps me connect with people in that way. In another way as well I connect with my clients. I have an open line of communication with everyone who books me. I have met so many new people that I otherwise would have never had communication with. Without my photography, I would not talk to as many people as I do now, and my business literacy would not be as good as it is either. photography is a business, I learned ways to gain more clients, to talk to my clients that book me and much more. Photography has literacy, and literacy is embedded in the photography world. Recent Photos With my Clients |
AuthorMy name is Lynzie Marchesani. I am currently a student at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania studying Social Media Theory and Strategy with a minor in Women and Gender Studies and Studio Art. ArchivesCategories |