TOMAS

My name is Tomas, and I am currently enrolled in junior year at Serra High. I am a San Diego native, and I live in the City Heights Community. The social issue that spoke to me and that I chose to portray is poverty. I chose to portray poverty as my social issue for two main reasons. First, most people in my community of City Heights live near or at the poverty line, meaning they are just getting by. In addition, many of my family members have struggled with poverty at one point in their lifetime. Also, I wanted to give people within my community a voice and a chance to tell their story in an authentic manner, and not a tainted one portrayed by the media or politicians. Therefore, I believed it was time for someone like me to take charge of portraying the issue. I find art to be synonymous with making a statement. Thus, I employed photography to express what poverty looks like on a daily basis. My eyes primarily gravitated to locations near my community. I found myself taking pictures of my surroundings, which consisted of the nature around me and the details in my neighborhood (street cracks, liquor stores, etc). I hope my artwork can tell a story. I want to portray what daily life in my community looks like, and I hope to educate my audience about the issues of poverty.