Photography by Leann Rochelle

During my first semester of my Master’s degree program in 2019, I was assigned to do a creative final project reflecting my experience over the semester.

I had arrived at Columbia’s School of Social Work expecting to quietly make my way through the program with much docility but greatly surprised myself as I ended up quickly finding my voice and grew to become a strong leader and advocate who passionately spoke up for what I believed in. The change was so noticeable that many of my peers and professors referred to me as a revolutionary within my cohort as I boldly used my voice and took up space in the world to advocate for social change and justice.

For my project, I created a performance photography piece to convey this transformative personal journey I experienced. The 4 stages I assigned to each photo — Submission, Reclamation, Transformation, & Gratification — encapsulate my internal process and juxtaposed together, they depict my personal growth.

In my choice of the outdoor earthy setting and physical poses, I was inspired by the goddess Sita Ma, daughter of Mother Earth. My journey is like a rebirth and like Sita I rise up from the earth, blossoming like a flower towards the sky and claiming my place in the world.