Well not exactly…
As a teenager there are a lot of things coming at you from all directions. People look at you different now that you’re as tall as an adult and have a voice to match it. You’re trying to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend who likes the same things as you. You’re trying to prioritize school work just enough to get through it, when really you’d rather be playing that video game you just picked up. Although few things are harder than responding to adults when they ask you, “So what is it that you’re going to do when high school is over?”
I had my answer figured out from a fairly early age. I had always been interested in flying, and I have relatives who reminisce about when they used to have their pilots license. I was certainly interested in getting my pilots license, but it was more of a fantasy than something I could really figure out how to achieve. The cost was also astronomical, and coming from a family that is barely getting by, I’d have to pay for every bit on my own, and as a kid. Nevertheless when people asked me what my plan was, I’d tell them that I was going to school to become a pilot and eventually work for airlines. This gave me some peace, people would be happy for me, and give me a break.
At the age of 16 I enrolled in a ground school course at our local airport, funded by my newspaper route earnings and a few small gifts from relatives. Every tuesday night after school ended I’d have to go to the local airport and sit through 3 hour classes that taught us the basics of flight. I didn’t really learn that much, as I was exhausted from just getting by as a teenager and was focusing more on keeping my eyes open than actually paying attention to the instructor. At the end of this course I took two flights in a Cessna 150 with my instructor which cost $150/hr which was a lot of money for me, and still is. I got quite nauseous even though the flights were short, and began to accept that this wasn’t the path that I would be taking, not quite yet anyways.
Toward the end of highschool I had a point and shoot camera that I would use to take pictures of all kinds of things. Digital photography was new to me, and liberating now that I didn’t have to buy film and get it developed. Photography was more exciting than it had ever been. I’d regularly post new work on my DeviantArt account and occasionally get comments and have people add my work to their favorites! This was my first real outlet to interact with people online and speak through my photography, in 2006.
It wasn’t until I took the photo titled ‘Sun Glasses’ in 2007 (below) that I had an epiphany. I realized that you don’t always have to find stories to tell through photography, you can simply create a story to tell, by setting up the subject matter a certain way. Essentially I found creative freedom within the medium of photography. I saw the sun, took off my glasses and shot the image to show the sun through my glasses lens. This wasn’t a great photo but it led me down the path that I’m still on today, creating images from concepts I have.
I now became positive about what I wanted to do with my life. I decided to go to Fanshawe College in London, Ontario to study photography for 2 years. I attended from 2008-2010 and graduated with a strong passion for the art. More to come on this later.
Have you had a similar circumstance when you were younger? Did you plan to become one thing, then wind up doing something completely different? Share it in the comments, I’d love to hear your experiences!