Fair warning: this is going to be long. I'm using this final blog post to take time to reflect on my two and a half years in the DMA program. I'll start off with a little background on me as an artist. Growing up, I could always color well inside the lines, but I couldn't draw if my life depended on it. At age 10 I received my very first point-and-shoot camera, a chunky silver Canon Powershot A430. I remember immediately going outside and pointing it directly at the sun because I wanted to see the pretty lens flares. My mom came out with me and told me that it's bad for the sensor to be pointed directly at the sun. That was my very first "lesson" in photography, everything from then on out was mostly trial and error. I then graduated to a nicer, more compact point-and-shoot, the Canon Powershot SX280, but I ended up mostly borrowing my mom's Nikon DSLR. Junior year I started to get pretty serious about my photography, and invested in what is now my prized possession and basically my child, my Fujifilm X-T20. So, photography has been with me for a great portion of my life, and it's been my main method of creating art since my drawing skills don't exist.
I took DMA 1 my junior year because I figured I would get to do a lot of photography, which I did, but I also learned that Illustrator existed. That was the turning point for me. We started working on our vector portraits, and I was like, "Wait, you can do that?" I made it to BPA Nationals last year for a graphic design event, and that's when I really fell in love with design. Upon working with more vector techniques, typography, and layout, I decided that maybe this could work for me long term. I remember during scheduling I thought I didn't have room for AP DMA, but I cut some classes and took the plunge. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
DMA has brought me some of the best opportunities of my life thus far. I'm going to gloat for a minute and list them off, because I wouldn't be who I am today or where I am today without this class. I won a gold key at Scholastics, I got to go to Dallas for BPA, and I had two films selected for the Golden Lions Festival. I got to shoot behind the scenes of Polly Magazine, who I'm now interning for. I got to learn about film photography, which led me to apply for a film photography class that I was one of twelve selected for.
This class has helped me realize that my dreams of becoming an artist can be made real, and that there are creative outlets almost everywhere. Next year I will be attending the University of Cincinnati to major in Communication Design under their college of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP), as well as minoring in Spanish. I'm super excited for the future, and I can't thank Barnes and Shields enough for pushing me to pursue art.
For my underclassmen: don't be afraid to branch out. Take every opportunity that you can, you never know where it will take you. Create so much, and have so much fun doing it. Find your passions and stick with them.
You can find my website by clicking here.
My photo instagram is @secciaphoto, and you should also check out @pollymagazine (that's who I'm interning for)
I'm also booking class of 2020 senior portraits, so hit me up: eseccia.biz@gmail.com
Here are some of my favorite things I've done this year:
I took DMA 1 my junior year because I figured I would get to do a lot of photography, which I did, but I also learned that Illustrator existed. That was the turning point for me. We started working on our vector portraits, and I was like, "Wait, you can do that?" I made it to BPA Nationals last year for a graphic design event, and that's when I really fell in love with design. Upon working with more vector techniques, typography, and layout, I decided that maybe this could work for me long term. I remember during scheduling I thought I didn't have room for AP DMA, but I cut some classes and took the plunge. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
DMA has brought me some of the best opportunities of my life thus far. I'm going to gloat for a minute and list them off, because I wouldn't be who I am today or where I am today without this class. I won a gold key at Scholastics, I got to go to Dallas for BPA, and I had two films selected for the Golden Lions Festival. I got to shoot behind the scenes of Polly Magazine, who I'm now interning for. I got to learn about film photography, which led me to apply for a film photography class that I was one of twelve selected for.
This class has helped me realize that my dreams of becoming an artist can be made real, and that there are creative outlets almost everywhere. Next year I will be attending the University of Cincinnati to major in Communication Design under their college of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP), as well as minoring in Spanish. I'm super excited for the future, and I can't thank Barnes and Shields enough for pushing me to pursue art.
For my underclassmen: don't be afraid to branch out. Take every opportunity that you can, you never know where it will take you. Create so much, and have so much fun doing it. Find your passions and stick with them.
You can find my website by clicking here.
My photo instagram is @secciaphoto, and you should also check out @pollymagazine (that's who I'm interning for)
I'm also booking class of 2020 senior portraits, so hit me up: eseccia.biz@gmail.com
Here are some of my favorite things I've done this year:
Once again, thank you, DMA, for giving me so much.
Much luv,
Much luv,
Erin Seccia
Can't wait to see all of the great things that you will be up to in the coming years! I've loved working right next to you all year!
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