How do you explain a moment that challenges you? Do you start by talking about the good, then to begin to delve deeper into the realness? Or do you just start with the realness….?

Do you start by saying, “This was real and this was humbling. It wasn’t black or white, and I walked away from this feeling about 10x more uncertain about my thoughts, feelings and perspectives, than I did when this all started.”

Nicaragua was a lovely country.  Going there from Guatemala, to document a college group, I anticipated finding a similar experience as the one in the previous country. I expected things to be simple (but not), slowly moving, charming and educational.  And while I did find educational, many of the other elements were quite different.

Being in the city of Matagalpa, I saw poverty and social struggles, all more amplified due to the groups focus in the country. I found my self struggling with what was appropriate to visually document and what wasn’t. More times than not, I would forgo taking photo of the poverty out of respect for the people.

I think the biggest lesson I learned here is that it is okay to be uncertain. It is okay to realize that not everything should have a photo taken of it. It is okay just to observe and to use that observation to better yourself internally.

It is important to respect your surroundings. It is not your world, it is theirs.

-a wanderer