Maggie Rife Ponce | Photojournalist
My interest in photography began as a kid while leafing through pages of National Geographic. Two things fascinated me: a world I had yet to discover and the magical way in which it was captured.
I began shooting photography as a teenager. My father was my mentor introducing me to window light and teaching me how to twist the dials. In the darkroom, he showed me how to coax the light and shadows over and again until, like magic, an image was before me.
I fell in love with the magic of freezing time. And as a lifelong journalizer, photography was a natural transition. It allows me to bottle up and store the people, the light, and the moments around me. Photojournalism not only enables me to feed the part of my spirit that yearns to travel and discover, but it also gives me the opportunity to document the intimate moments of everyday life that connect all humans.
I am now based out of Chicago, working as a photojournalist, portrait photographer, and instructor. I hold a degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri. My camera has taken me to more than a dozen countries throughout Southeast Asia, Central America, and Europe to capture the cultures and teach my trade.
My pieces in the Connection art project are visual journal entries. They chronicle my journey in discovering the close physical and emotional connections Filipinos share not just with one another, but also with the environment. I found the emphasis on the “we” versus the “I” to be a defining value and a glaring departure from common American thinking.
www.rifeponcephotography.com
I began shooting photography as a teenager. My father was my mentor introducing me to window light and teaching me how to twist the dials. In the darkroom, he showed me how to coax the light and shadows over and again until, like magic, an image was before me.
I fell in love with the magic of freezing time. And as a lifelong journalizer, photography was a natural transition. It allows me to bottle up and store the people, the light, and the moments around me. Photojournalism not only enables me to feed the part of my spirit that yearns to travel and discover, but it also gives me the opportunity to document the intimate moments of everyday life that connect all humans.
I am now based out of Chicago, working as a photojournalist, portrait photographer, and instructor. I hold a degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri. My camera has taken me to more than a dozen countries throughout Southeast Asia, Central America, and Europe to capture the cultures and teach my trade.
My pieces in the Connection art project are visual journal entries. They chronicle my journey in discovering the close physical and emotional connections Filipinos share not just with one another, but also with the environment. I found the emphasis on the “we” versus the “I” to be a defining value and a glaring departure from common American thinking.
www.rifeponcephotography.com