Disability Tourism & Access to Tourism


Farther Than the Eye Can See introduced more than a story of a blind man who conquered Mt. Everest. It introduced that no matter your situation, if you’re determined, you can overcome any odds. Even if all odds are already against you.  Erik Weihenmayer didn’t do this alone, which is something great to note. He had a great support system helping him chase his goal. This shouldn’t be overlooked.

I think a lot of people are faced with the misconception that obtaining and chasing the wildest dreams and aspirations are to be done alone. This often time isn’t the case. It’s important to have a strong support system and people who are willing to help get you closer to your goals. It makes these aspirations much more obtainable. There is no right or wrong way to go about doing this.

Personally, I’ve realized this once I came to Grand Valley. It all started with concert photography. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time and I soon found out that it wasn’t an easy task to get your foot in the door when applying and asking for credentials, especially without prior experience or loads of work to show for it. I decided me going at it alone wasn’t going to work. I reached out to my friend over the summer to try and sneak in to shoot our first concert. We got together one night in Detroit on the last day of Movement music festival and found a way to sneak in. We were able to successfully and got the opportunity to capture photos of a few big artists. From there, we both sent those around to publications and slowly made friends with people who worked in the music industry. Once we had a strong network of people, we were able to get into more shows and it became endless from there.

Now, I use this same ideology when looking for other photography work or jobs. I think it’s important to note that sometimes, you need others to help you succeed. We don’t need to go through life alone.


Juicy J at Movement Music Festival '17. A festival a friend and I snuck into to get our first concert photos to showcase.

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