It was truly unbelievable when I received the email – first when I made it to second round and second time when I made it to the final round for the work to be displayed! (please see photos below)
My friend Maricella and I were ecstatic! I think we screamed for like the first minute when I called her to give the good news! 😀 We are crazy like that! 🙂
Back in April of 2019, Maricella and I decided to collaborate on a fun photo project together. The focus of the shoot was to showcase her – the person she is, her rich indigenous background and learn more about her story! She has been crowned Mrs. Anoka County at the last Minnesota pageant and will be competing on a national level in Feb-20 on a national level! She will be representing Minnesota! My heart is full of gratitude, pride and love for her!
I was so happy that the jurors selected this work as it truly is a symbol of women and diversity empowerment. To me it portrays power, strength and courage – the inner power that we have to rise above our circumstances, courage to dust ourselves off and fight for against all odds and strength to withstand any obstacles that come our way. Humans are blessed with a well of energy and if we simply took one step to tap into it each day, miracles will happen.
I am eternally grateful to the photography juror, Peter Wong for picking my work to display at the fair gallery, to Maricella for working on this project and for becoming one of my greatest friends and to my family for always believing in me, even when I dont believe in myself! 🙂
To find out more about Maricella and Peter, here are their Instagram handles-
https://www.instagram.com/makinthecrownchaseme/
https://www.instagram.com/peterwongphotography/
