Inclusion Photo (Celebrating Asian American Women)
Kikuko Shepherd
This is my grandmother, Kikuko. She is a very special person to me because of her immense strength and obstacles she has overcome in her life, she lived through and experienced the wrath of WWII growing up in Japan. As a young girl, she was orphaned and raised by her older sister whom she grew very close with. She met Jim, when she was an English translator at a military base in Okinawa. They would marry and raise three kids in Virginia just outside Washington, she proved her strength in a variety of seemingly small ways, such as being a stay at home mom and being the one who would catch the boys in her arms if they were running out into the street for example. Due to Jim having a childhood recovering from Polio, he was left disabled in a wheelchair. Because of this and the endless kindness she exhibits, she is one of the most inspiring women to me. In this photo, she was enjoying the little things life has to offer by indulging in her undeniable gift in nurturing the soil of her garden.
Lucy O'hara
Her beauty emanates, like the aromas from a fresh picked delicate daisy
The passion that borrows within her, ignites like a fiery flame,
glistening blue undertones, engulfed in her abilities, impossible to tame
Beaming to share and enlighten others with her astonishing capacity for empathy,
And understanding them in a way that embodies an ever so careful melody
Her bubbly exterior, exhibits her strength
The complexity of her character shines in astounding wave lengths
You can’t help but be in awe of her
The kindness she carries, is something to be sought after
Her interests and representative nature,
Giving a voice to the voiceless, is something she ever so gracefully accomplishes
Her undying strength is something that astonishes
I admire her, and you should too, her shining colors of gold and blue
The passion that borrows within her, ignites like a fiery flame,
glistening blue undertones, engulfed in her abilities, impossible to tame
Beaming to share and enlighten others with her astonishing capacity for empathy,
And understanding them in a way that embodies an ever so careful melody
Her bubbly exterior, exhibits her strength
The complexity of her character shines in astounding wave lengths
You can’t help but be in awe of her
The kindness she carries, is something to be sought after
Her interests and representative nature,
Giving a voice to the voiceless, is something she ever so gracefully accomplishes
Her undying strength is something that astonishes
I admire her, and you should too, her shining colors of gold and blue
Blind Photography
Seattle Center Photos
Designed Photo
"In My Shoes"
I struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and it impacts every area of my life, I have an innate fear of uncertainty that I have carried with me in all my years. Because of this, even though OCD is often misrepresented as only consisting of the desire for everything to perfect, my OCD centers around control, and the fear of having a lack of it. In this image, I wanted to represent and remind myself that certain elements are out of my control, and learn to be at peace with it, I can't anticipate the way vines grow, or how long it takes for flower buds to blossom, I cannot control the blurs and bits of life that seem out of place, so I choose to take it with me, and embrace the uncertainty that has a tendency to haunt me, I realized while taking this photo that often times, I get so consumed by circulating thoughts and forget that beauty can be created from perceived darkness.