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Eamon Bonner
@eamonsphotos
Best of the week 8 at #nomadict 2020
My love for photography and traveling all started in high school, as most things do. I found my passion for photography when I was just looking for something to dedicate some of my time to. I’ve always appreciated nature and landscapes and the power of capturing moments, but never really took the leap to actually combine these things and I didn’t pick up a camera until about 2 years ago. It was in my senior year of high school that I traveled to Greece and Italy and I realized that seeing the world and all it has to offer is the goal I wish to achieve in life. I found that capturing moments and being able to cherish them throughout my life is easily the most important thing, because when you go through them, you see all the things you did, moments you lived, and there’s no better way to keep track of those memories than photography.
"After these travels, I carried my camera everywhere. I was begging my friends with cars to go on adventures with me and shooting all my school events."
After photographing for a few months whether it be on Long Island or NYC, I knew that my true photography passion didn’t lie here. I dreamed of traveling the world and was inspired by photographers like Peter Mckinnon, Thomas Heaton and Michael Shainblum. I would watch their youtube videos for hours just dreaming about how it would feel to traverse the black sand beaches of Iceland or the mountainous terrain of the Canadian Rockies. After a creative rut that hit me for a few months I decided it was time to pursue my dreams and book a flight to Iceland. Me and three of my friends picked up our lives for 2 weeks and road tripped the whole country. I not only captured moments that will last me a lifetime, but I made bonds with people that I will remember forever.
Taking this trip to Iceland really helped me grow as a person. When I traveled previously I was always in the “tourist” areas and didn’t get to truly experience what those cultures had to offer. In Iceland it was completely different. I felt completely submerged in icelandic culture and that helped me tap into my creativity and capture what are my favorite images still today.
Coming from NY influences the perspective one has on a lot of things. I just feel like many people there don’t understand what the world we came from was like, how nature triumphed all and how it was just nature before all the infrastructure and houses. I think that the connection between nature and a person is something everyone should experience and cities, especially cities like New York, really shut this important connection down. I don’t care how many times you’ve been to central park; nothing really compares to truly being alone and surrounded by nature.
"That is one of the reasons I'm ridiculously grateful for travel. It has given me an opportunity to share how I see the world with people from everywhere."
It changed the way I view pretty much everything. I’m able to think more clearly with all the different points of view I’ve been exposed to, it helped me become a better problem solver as well. With planning all these trips I’ve come across many problems that at the time I thought would cause my dreams to come crashing down, when in reality it only helped me become a better person. A problem I have is that sometimes I don’t appreciate what I have because I’m too busy thinking about what I don’t have. I was obsessed with leaving the country and seeing what other places have to offer, but what I didn’t realize was that America has so much to do. I visited southern Utah and went to a few National Parks such as Bryce Canyon and Zion national park.
"Seeing what my own country has to offer helped me appreciate my current situation so much more."
I’m beyond grateful to be able to travel to all these fantastic places all at the age of 18. Travel is one of the most important things in my life and I don’t regret a single thing. The part of travel that I probably most appreciate is to not being held accountable by anyone. I love waking up and being able to have the world at my fingertips. You’re able to look so deep within yourself and find what you really love when the only person holding you accountable is yourself.
I am a dreamer. And I think this really enabled me to realize all this and to stand where I am now. You can ask anyone who knows me and they will all tell you I’m always dreaming big. And this is reflected in my photos. When it comes to editing my images, I want to portray a dream. Something people don’t believe exists. I want my images to have a cinematic composition with dreamlike tones and colors which, when coming together, essentially make my “style”. I never really had a form to express my thoughts that I was comfortable with. I struggle immensely with putting my thoughts into words or even just explaining what I think and photography changed that for me. I found a medium I was comfortable with sharing this part of me that nobody really gets to see, it enables me to express my dreams and goals through images everyone can enjoy.
"I just want people to understand that there's hope. Don't stop yourself from pursuing your dreams because everything can become reality if you put in hard work and believe in yourself."
WINNING PHOTOGRAPH
BEST OF THE WEEK 8
My cinematic and dreamlike style has derived from my personality and from the way I look at things, and photography has definitely influenced that. I appreciate long drives a lot more. I love looking out the windows and watching countless scenes roll by. Everything I look at in life I now look at through a photographic perspective, I’ve come to appreciate film more and have met such fantastic people through this photographic journey. I’ve been exposed to countless opportunities and what’s even better is that I have a chance to do something I love for a living which I am eternally grateful for.
"I have been doing photography as a job for the last 6 months or so and I can confidently say I haven't worked a day in these last 6 months because I’m just doing what I love."
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