Dawson Peters
Southwest Symbiosis
Dawson Peters is an adventure photographer born and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. Being located on the Colorado Plateau, He has had ample opportunity to explore some of the most amazing landscapes in the West. Starting in middle school, Dawson was a student of the Alpine leadership Academy. This outdoor based learning program opened his eyes to what was possible in the outdoors. Ever since then, he has been hiking, climbing, and biking his way all around the Southwest. It wasn’t until high school that Dawson was first given the opportunity to bring a camera along on his adventures. Wanting to document the special places and experiences he was having, it just seemed like a natural conclusion to come to. These days Dawson spends his time finding anyway he can travel the Southwest and capture the adventures he goes on.
The idea behind this capstone project was to achieve two goals. The first of these was to try and more fully understand what it takes to be a full time adventure photographer making editorial stories for publishing. By challenging myself to get out to somewhere new every weekend this semester I hoped to get a glimpse into what is going through the mind of someone who does this professionally. Having to make plans months in advance to accommodate people's schedule while also being able to be flexible with last second changes was something I quickly learned came with the job title. This constant flow of both being present with the current space while also trying to plan for the next was new and a challenge I was willing to tackle. The second goal of this project was to show what outdoor recreation means to so many different people. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a community of people where being outdoors is very prevalent and there are many opportunities to try different activities. This idea led me to what I really wanted to show people with my images. These spectacular landscapes have given so much to me and played such a tremendous role in my life and I wanted to create that same feeling with my images.
Special thanks to all of my friends who helped make this project possible. I am forever grateful.
