In 2009, I created Halftime as part of a documentary photography class taught by Wayne Gudmundson, a pivotal mentor in my life and career.
I decided to follow the West Fargo Packers, a high school football team that had ended the previous year with a losing record. Over the course of their season, I documented practices, games, travel, and moments in between, all the way to their unexpected journey to the playoffs.
This was my first experience immersing myself in a subject over an extended period, and it was during this time that I truly fell in love with photography. The process of being present, observing, and capturing the rhythm of their season gave me a deeper appreciation for photography's power of description. While the project itself didn’t fully align with the subject matter I eventually wanted to pursue, it gave me the foundation of how to craft an essay.
