Personal Photography: The move to Arizona (Growing Up)

For this body project I chose to include personal photos of myself with friends while growing up in Arizona.  I moved to Arizona in July of 2012, and I feel that in the midst of middle school it can be hard to make new friends and feel accepted amongst your peers.  The theme I have chosen to explore is the process of moving to new places, feeling somewhat alienated, but eventually discovering who you are and being accepted among your peers and creating life-long friendships.  When looking through old photographs, I noticed that there were a good amount of pictures of myself with friends where I was always off to the side or on the phone.  Looking back, I realize how not only did I feel somewhat alienated in a huge group setting, but also how to a certain extent I alienated myself from the group because I did not feel comfortable in a large group setting.  I found this interesting, and this is what led me to the decision to post my personal photographs.  I found the inspiration to do this project through the idea and probable thinking that I am more than likely not the only person who felt this way, or dealt with the same issues, but in a different way.  Another element of the project that I realized is how much I have grown as a person since I first moved to Arizona when I was twelve years old.  I feel like I found the inspiration from Carrie Mae Weems because her photography portrayed everyday struggles that people question about themselves.