Champions By Design Scholarship

About a month ago, the students of Ai Indy were given the chance to enter to win a $2500 scholarship and a chance to have our artwork hung in Lucas Oil Stadium for Superbowl 2012. The theme was "Champions By Design," which was very open to interpretation. When I looked up the word "champion," this is what I got:

champion |ˈ ch ampēən|

noun

1 a person who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition, esp. in sports : [as adj. ] a champion hurdler.

2 a person who fights or argues for a cause or on behalf of someone else : a champion of women's rights

"A champion of women's rights," for some reason got me thinking about individuality and got me on the track of how we are "the champions of ourselves." I'm not sure how my thought process went from women's rights to individuality, but it did. I originally wanted to do a shoot of 3 different people's eyes and capture the lighting just right so that there was just enough reflection in their eyes, and then I was thinking of putting that persons' passion in the reflection of their eyes; three passions that somehow tied together in an economical way. Based on the thought of, "Together we are the world." I thought about it for a while, and then realized that I was unsure of how to execute it in a way that would get my idea across. So I ended up doing a few head-shots of my sister and two best friends. Across their cheeks I wrote the words, "I am." This idea was based on the fact that we are the champions of ourselves. Around their shots I wrote different things like, "I am power, I am unselfishness, I am generosity, ...etc." Things that make up the individualities of that person. We all are unique, and I wanted to get that across in a way that was creative and obvious by having them pose in a way that displayed their separate personalities. I guess I interpret "Champions by Design," is that we are all unique and are made up of different "designs," if you will. I just really wanted to show the beauty of the uniqueness of a person. And so, this is what I ended up with.