Summer Picard-Hernandez:

My name is Summer Picard. I am soon to be a junior at David Douglas High School. I won't write my whole process of why I took my photos but rather have you the viewer tell me what you see. You can email me your thoughts at summerpicard@gmail.com
One of my goals is to become a professional model and speak out to teens about depression and self harm. I have been self harming since I was 10 or so but I finally quiet 2/8/15 and I want to show anyone else going through the same things that life does get easier you just have to hold on.

Blaze Vorseth:

My main reason for taking this picture was because of what it symbolizes. All I saw while walking up to it was the mound of roots and dirt, but then I saw the tree that had fallen, uplifting this chunk of ground. It just shows how something viewed as old and strong can be knocked over by a simple gust of wind, and take with it part of the earth. Photographing this image was the only logical way for me to capture this scene; I couldn’t have drawn something as powerful. I would’ve been able to write it, but like they say - a picture is worth 1,000 words.
I grew up in Longview, Washington; a small town that smells bad and has interesting people. It’s home to me. I made my first best friend there, had my first sleepover there, and spent nine years of my life there. I never felt unsafe or out of place. I went through some hard stuff, and turned to writing and photography without realizing it. I’ve always loved reading, but I hadn’t considered writing. Now I’m 15 years old, a soon-to-be-sophomore, and these two things keep my head up.

Sergio Aldazaba:

I was thinking of something humorus when I made this photo. I took it because I thought it looked cool and hilarious to me. I want the viewers to think of why I made this photo and to think what motivated me. A reason I used photography is because words cannot explain everything we see in this unique world. I am currently 15 years old and I'm about to be a sophomore soon. One of my goals is to be a video game programmer one day. I was born in Portland and spent all of my life there. (this is about the photo of Mt. Hood with Tommy "standing" on top)

Tommy Jay Larracas:

This photo was taken to show how two great minded photographers can use each other to make a photo. This also shows very important value to me simply cause I've always wanted a female companion to be a role model to the viewer. It holds a special place in my mind to remind me of the adventure with my friend in the photo who is somewhat of a Mother figure to me. And the setting where this photo is taken shows the character of myself as one of my hobbies is the visual arts.

Laura Stanley:

[A] generally very quiet and shy freshman kid said in the van a couple of weeks ago "I'm losing my voice, I've never talked this much." It was amazing to see him start to open up and really connect with the group!