Erik Castro
Major: Photojournalism
Inspiration:
I look to a few photographers for inspiration, and among them, James Nachtwey. You can show people a lot things about the human experience, but you can use beauty to help people look at issues that are hard to understand or hard to watch. For example, tackling issues that people don't like to discuss, such as minimum wage, dealing with poverty, etc.
Where UT Meets the Real World:
Through its faculty. "Meeting professors who were willing to use fiction to educate students in journalism. Great storytelling is one of the greatest tools to teach kids different subjects. Being in communication, professors that moved the class emotionally on some of the topics we were discussing that really made the whole experience enjoyable."
Aspiration:
My real goal is to produce some really long-term photography pieces. I'm not sure if those will be here in the U.S., or in Mexico, or overseas, but that’s really what I'm working toward. Photography that deals with issues that are under the radar: economic, social, and racial issues. Those are the things I’m really looking for. It takes time and money, but those are the things that I'm excited about.
Favorite Means of Communicating:
Photography.
