Paula Duran / Roundup
Opportunities are there. You just need to look for them.
Pierce College student Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez, 23, won a $10,000 scholarship from Nikon in October at the Eddie Adams Workshop, also know as “Barnstorm,” in New York.
Gonzalez was born to Mexican parents and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He graduated with honors in 2004 from San Fernando High School, which Gonzalez described as “a public school in one of the nation’s largest school districts, Los Angeles Unified, and one of the lowest performing schools in the country.”
Nikon’s involvement with this workshop is to support hundreds of the world’s most promising young photojournalists through sponsorships and award a $10,000 scholarship to the top student during the workshop.
The judges select a student based on the work presented at the workshop. Whoever wins the money must use it for education in the photography field.
“We all shared a common bond and that was sharing our stories through photographs,” Gonzalez said. “Best words of wisdom from my team leaders were to have fun and to fail. By failing we get to learn.”
He said the workshop changed the way he looks at stories and photography.
“I learned that most of them had to fail and pay their dues before they were able to get out there and do the stories they connected with,” he said.
The workshop is a four-day, tuition-free and invitation-only event. Among those invited are photographers whose portfolios were selected by the Eddie Adams Workshop Board of Directors.
Gonzalez’s love for photography goes back to when he was in school. He became interested in multimedia and photography with the help of a technology program that help underprivileged schools become more involve with technology, math and science.
With the help of a freelance photographer, Gonzalez started getting more involved in the field. The next thing he knew, he was traveling the world shooting congregational retreats of young corporate presidents in China, Dubai, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
Through the same freelancer, he got to know his current editor and gallery curator. Gonzalez started covering certain assignments for Agencia EFE, a Spain-based news service similar to the Associated Press.
He has been able to cover major news events for Agencia EFE as a freelancer and spends free time experimenting with Final Cut Pro and “getting a head start into the world of multimedia.”
Gonzalez spent three semesters working for the Pierce Roundup newspaper and two semesters with the Bull Magazine.
During that time, he went to the regional and state Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) competitions, receiving awards at both. He is currently waiting to finish his associate degree in photojournalism from Pierce, after which he plans to transfer to San Francisco State University.
He said he will still complete freelance news, sports, and entertainments assignments and has “hopes of one day being able to have some steady clients and shooting stories that deserve a voice.”
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“The Romero family at home in their trailer at the Hudson Valley Foie Gras property in Ferndale, New York.” One in a series of photos Gonzalez showed at the Eddie Adams Workshop. (Courtesy of Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez)
