Artist's Statement

While putting together my essay and looking at the pictures I took, the main thing I have learned is to expect the unexpected. I have to admit, I had some preconceived notions about how my experience at Escuela Vieau would be and I was wrong. I thought that maybe some children and staff would not be welcoming because I was not like them.

I grew up in a household where I was only allowed to associate with a certain group of people. I was taught that "the outside world" was a bad place and was filled with wicked people. As I got older I realized that the majority of the people who lived thinking this way lived by looking at other people just to find their faults and therefore have reasons why they thought they were better than them. When I came to this realization and started looking for the good in people and appreciating people for their differences and seeing people as equal to me, I just felt like I had truly discovered happiness. I am not perfect and still make assumptions and judge sometimes, but I try to train myself to see the good in people. My experience at Escuela Vieau has inspired me to keep living in this new light. It has proved to me that once again my assumptions were incorrect. While putting together my essay, I strove to show how Escuela Vieau operates with an open heart and an open mind and I strove to show how we should live that way as well.

Using the camera was little bit tricky. The first picture I took of Brian working on his homework, I didn't use and I decided to retake the picture. In the first picture, the angle was high and it was like you were looking down on him. The one I used was more eye level and I felt that you didn't get the the feeling you were better than him with the second photo. I also didn't choose to incorporate some of the images I took because of the background or the lighting.

Overall, I have enjoyed my experience so far with Escuela Vieau and I hope that it showed in the essay presentation that I put together.