September BPW Student Spotlight is here! Every so often, we will highlight the story and work of a fellow BPW community member. Our students, both present and former, possess such a depth of talent that we want a chance to celebrate them! This month we are featuring the talented photographer and photo-editor with the itch for travel: Andrew Dion.
In his words, Andrew shares a little about himself, how he got started with photography, his first experiences with the BPW, and his creative journey with the medium.
I grew up in Massachusetts. As a kid, I can remember my father always had a camera in his hand. He had his camera on vacations, for family parties, and even for just walking around the house. At an early age I was introduced to the idea of capturing memories and moments in time. I learned the camera was this amazing tool to relive moments with people you love or relive something close and personal to you. I remember going back through photos that my parents took in their 20’s before they started a family on an old slide projector. My father had a passion for photography and it made its way through osmosis from him to me.
I work in the health and wellness industry as a consultant. Part of my job is encouraging people to find passions and hobbies outside of their job. In doing so, I took my own advice 4 years ago and bought my first camera.
What brought me to the BPW was the realization after opening the box of my first camera that I wasn’t going to be able to just wing it. I needed help and I needed a place that was going to teach me the basics. After a quick Google search the BPW stood out far beyond any other company offering classes.
Two classes changed my perception of what photography is and could be: Digital Cameras I and the Travel Workshops.
Digital Cameras I opened with Chris showing us photos from other members in the BPW family. The images were all different types and styles. Instantly the creative juices started flowing and it was at that point I wanted to do nothing but shoot!
The Travel Workshops allowed me to peek behind the curtain and see how others shot. I was able to pick other photographers’ brains and listen to how they looked at landscape. You’re in a location sharing time, sharing space, and sometimes sharing food with one another. It allowed me to open my mind to different approaches; we’d be looking at the same area to photograph and come out with two different ways of interpreting it. I loved that. It is an invaluable experience.
I’ve been traveling quite a bit the last couple years around the U.S. I noticed that photos were beginning to blend together so I started writing notes and small journal entries at the end of the day about what I did, what I saw, and what I heard. Distinctive memories to match the photos. I was inspired to do this by a book my father gave me years ago called Cape Light by Joel Meyerowitz. In this book Meyerowitz talks about his shots in beautiful simplicity. A project that I am working on for myself is to do something similar. One photo on each page and a short description to go along with it.
