Dear friends,
Since my presence on this website has been embarrassingly scant, I figured I’d take this opportunity to properly introduce myself. My name is Sarah Dea. I’m 24. I live in Toronto. I take pictures.
Photography has been one of my newer pursuits in life. It comes after and triumphs over a string of paler passions.
Monterey, California – A fiery sky during the legendary drive down Pacific coast highway. (Photo by Sarah Dea)
After finishing a journalism degree and film studies minor from Carleton University in 2007, I took a year off to clear my head and live free of scholastic scaffolding. I traveled across the ocean a few times, worked some soulless writing contracts and reevaluated my life.
Although I’ve only embarked on the training wheels version of soul searching, it’s true: you haven’t felt alive until you’re withered, worn, hungry, under slept and not noticing at all because you’re doing what you love.
Livermore, California – Something scenic along the highway near Livermore, California. (Photo by Sarah Dea)
Train rides really are the clearest pool to have these reflective moments. The whir and click of the tracks and the gaping, often forgettable landscapes almost force you to face yourself. Something I had to do once I returned home from my travels but without the train to hold my hand. It hasn’t stopped since.
Venice, Italy – An empty gondola bobs peacefully in the Venetian Lagoons. (Photo by Sarah Dea)
Picking up a camera helped me to focus my perspective of the world. I got to be a casual observer, passive and active both in the same rite. It allowed me to keep pieces of everything and re-piece them into some kind of personal sense. This eventually led me to fast track photojournalism at Loyalist College. And eventually the 2009 Toronto Star summer internship. More on that later.
Zhouzhuang, China – Patrons line up outside this breakfast stall for a Chinese-style breakfast – fried dough sticks and hot soymilk. (Photo by Sarah Dea)
The good news is that so far, 2009 has brought many opportunities, hopes, and dreams. The bad news is that the underbrush of uncertainty has only thickened since. Early to mid twenties continues to plague me with flux, fear, doubt, but also, the daunting task of trying to figure out just who I am.
Heqiao, China – NioNio, spellbound by a child’s curiosity, peeks through the front door of her neighbor’s house. (Photo by Sarah Dea)
I’m still standing on the edge of this precipice, overlooking a glistening world of new prospects, growth, stability; maybe even love in many shapes and forms. In a way I want to jump headfirst and soak in these realities but a small part of me wants to turn around and run as far as I can. But I haven’t yet and don’t plan to. Where’s the fun in that?
And that’s where I am right now. As a person. And photographer, too.
London, UK – People hustle to make their trains in the London Underground. (Photo by Sarah Dea)
Sincerely,
Sarah Dea
sarahdea@gmail.com
647 996 2737
sarahdea.wordpress.com
