We Made It!

It's safe to say this has been the fastest year of my life. In the past ten months I have learned so much, met so many great friends, and become a much better photographer. Don't get me wrong, I will always be learning, but that is what I love about photography! Looking back at the portfolio I submitted when I first applied to PrairieView is so eye opening to how far I've come; in fact it's a wonder I ever got in. The past few weeks have been by far the most intense, between exams, portfolio preparations, video projects, our gallery show, and other finals, I'm just happy to be alive and breathing! I must say though, now that it's all done, I feel weird having time to actually do things that don't involve cameras. I sort of miss the craziness already. It's been really amazing being able to see how everyone's progressed, and what they have poured all their energy into this year.

Putting together a gallery show was a really cool experience. It was hosted at MAKE / Coffee + Stuff, and it was interesting to partner with a gallery that helped us utilize the space in new ways. My group chose the theme of Light & Shadow, and I chose to use projected slides to camouflage my subjects into a scene. I was happy with the results and it was fun experimenting and trying something new!

Working on a portfolio was another thing that I had never done before. Putting together a series of images is a challenge; deciding on content, style, flow, etc. is a process! It was really nice to shoot what you want; after many assignments pinpointed certain elements of a photograph. It was great to see all I've learnt come together into single photos. I chose to major in portraiture and these are a few of my favourites from my many shoots:

 

As I am about to emerge back into the real world I would like to take a moment to thank the amazing people in my life. First I would like to send a huge thanks to all my friends and family for being patient with me when I made you pose for me, turned many rooms in my home into a studio, and for understanding when I couldn't make it to dinners/birthdays/movies/anything that involved putting down my camera and being social. I owe you all so much, your support means the world!

Secondly, I would like to thank my fellow classmates. Throughout the year I had the chance to work with some really great people, and I am so thankful to everyone I will be graduating with! We really have become like one big family. I know I will definitely miss being in an environment where everyone is crazy about one interest. I love seeing creativity buzzing everyday at school, seeing ideas spark into peoples minds, and watching processes happen before my eyes. The support at PrairieView is awesome and I have learnt so much from both my peers and instructors. We laughed (a lot), and we cried (more than once maybe), and we sometimes got to the point where we wanted to give up (sad but true); but there was always someone around to help you pick yourself up again (every time). I am so proud of everyone, and have really enjoyed seeing everyones work this past week. We have all patiently watched each other grow, and now it's time to celebrate!

Congratulations to my fellow graduates, it's been an amazing year, and I will miss you all!

Kelsey Matsko

PV Diploma Student

2012-13