Blocked! NYIP Unit 5

Stymied. Frustrated. Exasperated. Discouraged. Hopeful.

I am completely blocked on the New York Institute of Photography Unit 5 and I cannot seem to come unstuck. I am writing about it in the hope that somehow I may become inspired and get through this next to last step. The assignment is fairly straightforward:

1) Photograph a newsworthy event.
2) Photograph a sports event.
3) Make a fashion photograph by copying something from a magazine.
4) Create a photo essay.

Not particularly difficult, but this assignment has become a serious roadblock for me.

Where do I go to find a "newsworthy" event? Photojournalism. Right place, right time, right equipment, luck. No car accidents out on the front lawn, no trains derailed at the Amtrak station, no aliens landing on Ensign Peak and stealing Brigham Young's monument. Sports? I could go down to the local soccer field. Heck, I could even buy a ticket to watch the Utah Jazz or the Utes. Fashion photography? Copying a magazine ad? Yuk. As for a photo essay, I do have a bunch of shots from when the ceiling collapsed in my laboratory last Spring and had to be cleaned up. Disgusting; toilet overflowed in the rehab lab above us. I thought THAT was newsworthy, but nobody else did.

Why? I can only think that part of the reason for my photographic constipation is that this assignment is very, very, VERY structured. I find I am very resistant to structure, schedules, restrictions, programmed venues. Ironic, since I was the Sports Editor of my high school yearbook and I enjoyed that.

Thanks for letting me bitch. Only time will tell if I can get off this position and finish the course I started.