#project330: On the Radio

The #project330 Love Letter to My 20’s continues today.

21.

The summer of my 21st year, I packed up my bags and flew halfway across the world to Italy, where I studied art for the summer. I signed up for an Independent Study Photography course, and when I was given the ultimate freedom to photograph anything for the entire semester, I was flummoxed.

As most art students can attest, we have our fair share of ups and downs, successes and failures. I was coming off a semester of spectacularly painful failures, and as much as I loved portraiture, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to venture back into that realm.

For whatever reason, I explained this to my professor after waffling for a week, and at her gentle urging, I decided to try my hand at portraiture again with a project that came to be called, “On the Radio.” I made portraits of my fellow students around our Tuscan town with one special addition — everyone chose a favorite lyric, and I would write it on their body we made their images.

The resulting portraits were stunning.

This project was a huge success, and to be honest, this project helped me gain confidence as a portrait photographer again.

When I came home, the project ended… but for #project330, I thought it might be fun to callback my Italian portrait project with lyrics from the very song that inspired the whole thing.

Birthday Girl: Erin Parker
Special thanks to Regina Spektor for writing such a gorgeous song.
Executive Producers: Erin Parker and John Pham
Photographed on location in Dallas.