Untitled by Ashley Ross

Information

Submitted on: 10 Mar 09

Rating:

Description of Essay as provided by photographer:

Carly Mills was assigned to be Matthew Nichols’ counselor for nearly six days straight at a summer camp for autistic adults in Black Mountain, NC. Nichols was the lowest-functioning camper that week; he is completely non-verbal, has difficulty moving, and requires assistance with most basic activities and functions. Although communication was impeded, Mills found that Nichols responds most visibly to physical contact.

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Viewing 5 Comments

PabronEStith 11 months ago 1 point
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You should also inspect your clothing for any holes and sew these holes up before putting them in the washing machine. Always remember that washing machines tends to switzerland clothing tug on your clothes in powerful jerks causing small holes in your clothes to go bigger.

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Gerik Parmele 1 year ago 1 point
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Judges Comment:
I really loved how the story opened and closed. Both are really nice images. Jamie had a good point about "an edit that tells Carly's perspective too." I too was kind of hoping for a picture that connected me to Carly outside of her role as a counselor. You have a good eye for capturing moments, keep it up.

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matteich 1 year ago 1 point
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Judges Comments:
Ashley, this is a nice start to a thoughtful story that shows sensitivity. There are a handful of images that stand above the rest, and a couple that tend to drag the edit down. #9 feels unnecessary, especially when followed by #10. How long did you spend with Carly and Matthew? Judging by the variety in clothing it looks like two days. This story could have benefited from more time to add some depth to your narrative. There are some nice moments and some good use of light – work on the technical side of the imaging (i.e. toning) and pushing your compositions. Again, this is a great start – keep it up!

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Jamie Rose 1 year ago 1 point
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JUDGES COMMENTS:
This is a really nice story! Well done. I think the editing could be tighter with a few less redundancies and I'd like to have seen more visual variety of places and events. it seem like these two were relatively alone for the most part. I wonder: did they ever interact with anyone else? Did she interact with other counselors?

Your description really helped bring out the elements of the story that were necessary. I thought this story was a touching and softly approached narrative. Focusing on them was the right way to approach it with this edit. However, you might want to consider an edit that tells Carly's perspective too.

You did a nice job with the access and it seems they were very comfortable having you around. Autism is a timely subject and you could continue with this in a variety of way. Good job!

-Jamie Rose,

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panosskoulidas 1 year ago 1 point
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Ohhhhhh ASHLEY...
how sweet, how great soul you have..
thank you for showing this essay to us...
Thank you....
i did love your edit...
you also worked on a "dangerously cliche" subject but you pulled it through...
congratulations....

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