Rachel Wallach

I have been taking photographs my entire life. In college, and at Glamour Shots, I gained experience with strobe lights, posing models, and with using back drops and props. I experimented often in projects I created at Manhattanville, and found many ideas that worked, and learned from those that did not.

I have been using photo-editors since I was in high school. I was only really able to work with Photoshop through school. At Manhattanville, I took many courses in which I was able to use the program and learn more about it. I enjoy being able to use Photoshop to enhance images, but at the same time, completely redesign an image to match the idea I had in mind and was unable execute that idea while shooting.

I grew up using Myspace, AOL messenger, and have now come to use almost all of the major social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Wordpress, Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram). I have an understanding for how each works, and how to market an idea through each platform. I am very interested in social media; it is very powerful and if use correctly, can create many positive (or negative) effects.

Writing is another major passion of mine. I have always enjoyed writing about something that I am interested in. During college, I had the opportunity to write a few thesis papers that I am very proud of. In my Advertising and American Pop Culture course, I wrote about advertising and how it effects young girls negatively. I did my own research and spoke to people to have outside opinions on the subject. 

In my senior year, I took a course called Literature in the Digital Age. Admittedly, I did struggle with the course. I was very passionate about it, though, because I was very eager to merge my passions for digital media and literature. My thesis paper for the course was on the ethics of photojournalism. I wrote about the consequences of taking pictures and publishing them. I included the effects it has on the person, and/or family members. I very much enjoyed researching the issue and writing about it from my point of view.