Photography isn’t quite like painting a picture or writing a song. To junior Shea Maloney, she says “photography is all about pointing to something compelling ... it forces you to pay attention to everything in your environment.”
Maloney fell in love with photography as a sophomore in high school, taking two classes and completing an independent study in her hometown of Medfield, Mass. Maloney — prolific early on — also won a Boston Globe Scholastic Art Award in her senior year. For the budding photographer, there has always been a drive to learn more. Maloney, a transfer student from Fordham University, found herself drawn to the human element of photography.
“I took two classes at Fordham that were really important because they pushed me out of my comfort zone,” Maloney said.
While at Fordham, Maloney began street photography, which she said opened her eyes to the world around her and the strangers that inhabited it. Inspired, she began exploring other mediums hoping to share her perspective.
Today, Maloney said she has found her artistic niche as a Jumbo. She is the darkroom coordinator and a TA for Dore Gardner’s class “Photo Foundation.” Maloney is also enrolled in two classes at the SMFA, “Sculptural Fiber” and “Photoshop.” However, her first passion remains photography. When asked about her perspective, she was confident that her work could speak for itself.
“It’s an interesting thing with a picture ... what you choose to leave out is almost as important as what you include,” she said.
