Nina Steinberg's Portfolio
"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.”
-James Baldwin
Inspired by Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York, I created a photo journal, Humans of Ethiopia. During my travels in Ethiopia, I approached individuals asking to photograph and interview them, with the hope of getting a glimpse into their lives to share with the world. I did my best to capture Ethiopian culture as well as display my belief that everyone has a story to share. This project provided me with the incredible opportunity to speak with, grow with, and learn from strangers.
I selected a few of the photos I had taken for my Humans of Ethiopia project and repurposed them into a travel esasy about my experiences in Ethiopia. Within Humans of Ethiopia, each photo stood alone, whereas my repurposing sought to weave these photos into the larger context of my travels. This essay is a continuation of conveying my belief that everyone has a story to share.
The overwhelming response to my essay, These Are The Souls, was the desire to know more. My classmates had a lot of questions, so I looked for a way to publically answer them. Through my research, I found that authors often record a Q&A video with the questions that they have received from their readers. I decided to address the questions I had received during workshop and in my feedback letters, so that with this project I would not only repurpose my work into a video, but to also give more to my audience by doing so.
In Why I Write, I explain my internal as well as external motivations for writing. With regards to my external motivations, I claim to write "not in a passive sense, but in an active sense. Writing to get involved." For me this means this portfolio would not be complete without providing some sort of opportunity for my readers to get involved. If you were inspired by These Are The Souls, please check out my fundraiser for Dr. Rick Hodes and help him to accomplish the impossible, one Dejene at a time.
The Minor in Writing blog is a space meant to create a sense of community amongst the students. This is a place to post ideas, pose questions, and showcase the work you are most proud of. Here you can find a compilation of my posts on the blog.