Corvallis, Oregon

Dixon Recreational Center at Oregon State University. Dixon has hundreds of members coming through their doors for physical fitness, employment, and study sessions. Students automatically get a membership after paying incidental fees, which cover their gym membership, campus health center fees, and sports games tickets.

Magdalena Hernández forms the dough of a pupusa. Stand owner, Arely Hanson recruited Hernández, who just finished her third season of working at the Corvallis Farmers Market. Besides having a stand at the market, Hanson does catering and special events.

I shot Corvallis because I have lived here for the past three-and-a-half years and this is where I have grown up the most. I decided to take a photo of Dixon Recreational Center for my landmark because Dixon has played a big part in my life this past year. Dixon has given me another family and has helped develop professional skills I can use in future jobs and my career. I took a photo of Magdalena Hernández for my environmental portrait because she works at the farmer's market, which has also been a huge part of my life this past year. I work for Denison Farm's, who trades produce for food so that their employees can be well fed during the long market shifts. We often eat pupusa's from Arely Hanson, so when I saw them making them at the last market, I decided it would be photo-worthy and it holds more meaning to me.

Photo Story Ideas:
A possible project for my photo story assignment is capturing a week of the culinary program and their cooking. I want to focus on capturing the chefs preparing their food and I want a consistent theme of having bold foods standing out in a plain kitchen. I plan on taking photos inside the culinary program's kitchen this week and I already have permission from the head chefs. I would document this by going in early, knowing their cooking agenda for that day, and capturing different processes from many students. To pull off the shoot, I plan to interact with my subjects casually to gain their trust and help them relax in front of the camera.

The second idea I have is photographing the transition of Corvallis and Albany or even different individuals' homes to Christmas. I plan to go to a Christmas tree farm and capturing families getting their trees, going to stores to get photos of people Christmas shopping, and getting photos of decorated houses, carolers, and special Christmas events around town. I am leaning towards the culinary idea, but if I change my mind I will go out this week to capture the Christmas transformation between my classes and sunset. I would document the subject by gathering rainboots and a towel for the tree farms since those get pretty muddy and I may want to lay on a towel to get a certain shot. As far as the stores go, I will take photos until I am kicked out. Getting kicked out of a store is not a concern of mine, as it has happened before. To pull this off I need to plan my schedule carefully and make sure I have the necessary equipment ready when I find a spontaneous moment to capture.