How a Fundraiser Taught Me the Art of Creating Emotionally Powerful Work

My inspiration

After meeting Pastor Park in Kenya, I was inspired and motivated to fundraise for his cause as I returned back to my school, NYU.

I planned a fundraiser, where I would take professional headshots for people outside of NYU Stern and then tell them about the cause and allow them to donate if they felt moved to.

My Challenge

As I hustled and got rejected by many people, I realized this was a practice of being able to make a true personal connection to move the strangers I met to donate.

I used my fundraising video to tell the story of the cause. And as I spoke with the person in front of me I faced the challenge to emotionally connect to them to be able to move their hearts to care about helping people on the other side of the world in Kenya.

What I learned

Tackling this cause was a great way for me to learn how to tell a story that will move people's hearts. This only reaffirmed my love for storytelling as I experienced the power of photography and videography being able to emotionally connect people. But I also learned that photography and videography by itself is not enough to allow people to feel the true emotions and love behind a story. The storyteller must share a truly open heart and mind. Otherwise my work can easily become another forgettable piece of media in the endless void of content online.