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Carmen Garcia Gallego: Modern Day Kids
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When the sky is clear, I love to walk around the University of Pennsylvania and look. I am constantly amazed by the mix of new and old that surrounds the campus. Buildings, technology, people- diversity takes on many forms in such a chameleonic and spirited environment. The only thing that does not change, but is also always changing, is the youth: I am fascinated by undergraduates who seem to share nothing in common. Myself being a diverse, international woman, I was curious to see how people from such different backgrounds expressed themselves through their clothes, words, and gestures; I wanted the lens to show me the lives of others. I portrayed students of different genders, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic background, and intellectual tastes and aspirations.
What I saw surprised me: even from different angles and in distinctive locations, people were more similar than what I anticipated. No one knew how to respond to the camera, but everyone was friendly and receptive. What I learned from this experience is that, no matter how different we think we are, underneath we are all the same. College is a great place to learn from each other’s diversity and acknowledge that we are more connected than we realize by our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. As I prepare to take a break from Penn, I gather that the people I will meet will not be much different from the ones I portrayed: under the guise of change, we are all just modern day kids.
About The Author: Carmen Garcia Gallego is a sophomore enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2018. To read more articles by Carmen, go here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/carmen-garcia-gallego-the-youth-and-the-political-candidates/