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Sapna Reddy
Sapna Reddy is a landscape photographer based in Northern California. She is currently pursuing dual careers as a photographer and a physician. As a radiologist she studies images in an attempt to establish diagnosis and cure the human body. As a photographer she aspires to generate images that celebrate the beauty around us and help to heal the mind. Her work has been published internationally including Lonely Planet, Popular Photography, Outdoor Photography, Landscape Photography magazine etc. She is the winner of the summer assignment 2016 for Outdoor photographer magazine, Minimalism assignment for National Geographic and category runner up for USA Landscape Photographer of the year 2016.
In addition to incorporation into multiple medical centres to create an ambiance of healing, her images have been used for video conferencing needs by corporations including Google, Gap, Hitachi, Yahoo etc. She also conducts private workshops focused on creative expression via the medium of photography. Select images are available in art galleries worldwide through Yellowkorner franchise.
On Sept 2nd 2017 a 15 year old set out on the Eagle Creek trail with his family and friends on a hike that would become an unforgettable experience in his life. The teenager was amusing himself by throwing fireworks into the canyon while his companions were watching and some were filming his actions on a mobile phone. What was intended to be harmless fun in their mind ended up as a catastrophic nightmare. The fire spread through close to 50,000 acres of the Columbia river gorge, lasted for months, impacted thousands of people and cost nearly 50 million dollars. What happens in the aftermath of the fire and how the area is salvaged remains to be seen. There is no doubt in my mind that poor judgement was responsible for this disaster. But on reading various descriptions of the event I was struck by the fact that there was a group of people with the teenager and no one in the group thought it necessary to stop his actions. Instead, he was being encouraged by their giggles/laughter and the video recording of his actions. Perhaps it was felt it would make a good social media post?
Stepping stones. Eagle Creek trail. Columbia river gorge
There is an increasingly disturbing trend developing of challenges on social media. Whether it is dousing oneself with rubbing alcohol and setting yourself ablaze or the more recent challenge of swallowing detergent pods, there is an underlying desire to do something so crazy that it garners attention. What has this got to do with photography you may ask. Please indulge me, keep reading.
As photographers when we share our images on social platforms for all to see we are also hoping to grab attention. Also hoping to create something so dramatic that it stops people from just scrolling past your image in their feed and instead makes them stop and stare in awe.