The End of an Era

Hello Beautiful People,

There is no Instagram post this time where I talk about how I created my work. Or what I had in mind and what I wanted the viewer to see. I know this is sad, but I have a reason for it. This post is not going to talk about that. This will be my final blog post...forever or for a while. I am not sure yet. 

This term was an exploration of my writing and artistic capabilities. When I first started, I had no idea what I was doing. I just started taking pictures and writing stories to accompany them. I had this image that I wanted to write stories about fictional people but base them in real life. I would not name them specifically as I felt that would ruin the vision I had. However, once I noticed that people commented about my experiences in these posts, I started to think about me being the narrator. I thought about the real experiences that I captured with the photos and made my project based on them. 

Since I had no idea where I was going with this project, I did not give much thought about what I wanted the end result to be. However, as I worked through the term with my new vision in mind, I finally understood what I was creating. I was documenting my life throughout college, on campus and off campus. I was given an opportunity to share my experience living as a college student and talk about certain moments that got me to reflect. I did not realize my project was more about reflecting than anything else. As I created my works, I had to reflect on what this moment meant to me and how I lived my life. I would usually come to the conclusion that life continues to progress and has moments where everything stops. I really got to see the beauty in life through this project and I got to explore it in this class. I do not think I would have created something like this if I did not have to. 

I felt my creative side flourish and gain strength with each story I wrote. I wanted to write in a way that was realistic while giving something that viewers can relate to, which in this case it is you! This project allowed me to step back and take in the world as it is but focus on the beauty rather than the ugly. I was able to look at the world through a new lens that was not clouded by pessimism, rather I looked at it with optimism and I wanted to share this view with you guys. As I captured these beautiful moments, they will be forever timeless. As Nathen Jurgenson claimed when talking about life and photos, he stated, "After all, life is flow and movement and sound; a photograph is always a choice to make it still" (117).  I know that the world can be a cruel place at times, but I wanted to show you that there are moments where beauty is hidden. You would have to dig for them, like diamonds in the rough. 

Sun setting behind clouds on College Avenue


I feel like over the course of these short 10 weeks I was able to bring something that could entertain people, maybe inspire them. I did my best to achieve this goal and I think I did a pretty good job of it.

And now, for the final goodbye. Well, I would not say this as a "goodbye" but rather a "see you later!" "Goodbye" seems way too final for me. You will see me again! I may continue posting on my Instagram to do check ins on my future endeavors. So here it is if you so choose:

https://www.instagram.com/langsmith_stories/

Lastly, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to view my work and even respond to it. Your comments and positive feedback mean a lot to me. I cannot thank you enough! I hope I was able to reach y'all on a level where you can enjoy the wonders of life despite the hardships.

I will see you later!

With lots of love,

Libby :)

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