Throughout my life, my parents have always stressed the importance of putting others before myself, to follow my dreams and passions. I have always had a strong drive to help those less fortunate. The homeless are exactly that. The homeless are people like you and me who just had a streak of bad luck. I have often associated the homeless with being harmless. Stereotypes have depicted them as dangerous and deceptive, but sitting and talking to them for 5 minutes will prove that it is just a stereotype.
While downtown one night, I ran across a homeless man with a look that made me want to take a photograph and capture the emotion shown. My photography teacher had just assigned a series to our class. I used my assignment as an opportunity to bring awareness to a very real problem within society. A few weeks after that night, I went back down with the intentions of capturing that emotion. Not only did I take the photos, I talked to them. I learned about their hardships, families, and dreams.
After capturing the emotion I sought in my photographs, I turned them in. My photography teacher came to me and asked if I wanted to enter my photo into the Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. A few weeks later, I received a letter in the mail saying I was one of the 197 students out of 2,150 to be given the Gold Key Award. My photo, along with other works of art, will be displayed in Clowes Hall until the mid-March awards ceremony. Photography has always been a huge part of my life and a way I can express myself. I sincerely hope you enjoy my photographs displayed. I also hope this article motivates you to try to make a difference.
Text and photos by Miranda McGovern,Gold Key award winning photographer in the Scholastic Art and writing Competition. Miranda is a Junior at Center Grove High School.
