Words can only express an individual’s thoughts to a limit. I dislike limitations; therefore, I express my thoughts through boundless photography. The only way to decipher my mind is through my eyes.

As a child, I was the reserved one, who listened but never spoke and witnessed but never acted upon. My eyes watched the world revolve, learning to appreciate the distinct details of life. Instead of the whole that everyone else saw, I recognized the scattered puzzle pieces that completed the ensemble. A puddle was not just a sparrow’s swimming pool; it contained mesmerizing ripples and a mirror reflection of the surrounding adventures. Grass was not just the floor of the outdoors; it was a wonderland to creatures: ants, beetles, caterpillars and earthworms. Although my young mind did not understand how to utilize these observations, I knew that I wanted to share and express my findings.

The amount of blank stares and perplexed faces that I received when I would mention any of my observations is countless. For some reason, it was impossible for me to describe the scene that I beheld in my mind to my fellow companions. Even if I explained the vision through the five senses: smell, sight, hearing, touch and taste, they could not see what I witnessed. The crumbled autumn leaves on the pavement were only crumbled autumn leaves on the pavement. Not until a camera was placed into my hands were they a scrambled pattern of green, red, orange, yellow and brown that contrasted against the dull and gray pavement.

A simple digital point and shoot camera, passed down by my parents, became the gateway to my self-expression. The camera was my messenger, which delivered the magic I saw as I experienced life to the surrounding people who never understood why I smiled at the sparkle in a cat’s eye.

As Barney said in my childhood, “sharing is caring”, and indeed, it was. Each and every photograph I documented was shared with anyone within reaching distance. My self-expression has expanded my reserved self into an outgoing young woman who wants to expose and teach people the little wonders that an occupied eye can miss.

My goal was to influence the people in my life through my perspective; I wanted to show that the small wonders in silent persons and inanimate objects have something to say. In my eyes, the silhouettes of a tree or bridge have the same captivating and indescribable effect on a person’s eyes and lips as an exposed tree or bridge does. The less obvious just needs to be highlighted by those who see it, like me.

Photography was my method of speaking to the world without words. The indescribable scenes that I noticed became comprehensible visuals that everyone recognized. My perspective was easier to appreciate because people saw the minuscule fascinations of the world through my eyes.