For Blue Skies

Portfolio Statement

For Blue Skies is a collection of photography, prose, and poetry. Within the description of each photo above is a link to the corresponding story or poem. With this project, I aimed to explore the ways in which photography and literature can be used to reflect our lives. Pinning down a central idea - a theme, a motif, a lesson - can be difficult as the writer; however, I believe each piece deals with honesty in some way. While certain characters face their past, others are confronted by present realities they can no longer ignore. For instance, the longer pieces - Flashes and Coming Clean - feature protagonists whose inner conflicts form the basis of the narrative.

These stories allowed me to focus my attention on various aspects of writing: character development, pacing, setting, and dialogue. I aimed to manipulate these aspects to convey an overarching theme. While pinning down a central idea can be difficult for a writer, an ideal will often emerge as the pieces come together. One such ideal is truth, and I have made this the basis of my portfolio.

Each piece deals with honesty in some way. This, as well as my love for music, is where I have drawn the title of this portfolio – For Blue Skies. The title comes from a song of the same name, performed by the band Strays Don’t Sleep. While the song itself deals with forgiveness, I feel that truth is just as crucial to our lives – truth for me, truth for you, truth for the characters hidden within the following stories and poems.