Collection Project-Maddy Cartwright

     In the past, my experience with collecting has been somewhat limited. I have always picked up sea glass and agates off of the beach, but I have never taken the process of collecting very seriously. In deciding on my project, I chose to use photography as my medium, specifically a disposable film camera. I decided to take a photo during moments that I felt truly happy, and then analyze the contents of the roll of film to figure out what makes me the happiest. Having struggled with depression since 7th grade, taking a moment to appreciate the times that I feel a serotonin boost is an extremely important step towards the healing process. I have been doing this for a while as a way of practicing mindfulness and after I snap each photo, I take a moment to myself to appreciate the way that I am feeling. We all dwell on sad memories, but it takes some training to be able to comfortably dwell on cheerful moments. The use of a disposable camera also prevented me from being too wrapped up in the photography process as I usually didn't get to see the photo until a month later. Disposable cameras are a tricky medium, so some did not turn out recognizably enough to be included in my collection, but the photos that I chose are the photos that best represent my own happiness. In analyzing the photos afterward, I decided to group them in order of how many people were with me when I took the photo. As someone who has always been a self-proclaimed introvert, I was surprised at how many of the photos were with a group of people. I decided to space the photos in which I am alone slightly farther away from the rest of the photos to further emphasize the difference in how many happy moments I had while I was alone versus with other people.