Kaitlyn McQuaid ’10, who created our imaginative cover image and contributed some of the other photography for this story, is a photography major at Ithaca College.

“Photography has become my field of choice because it allows me to explore so many avenues, investigate new locations, and meet a variety of people,” Kaitlyn explains. “Each photograph presents a new opportunity for me to grow as a person and as a photographer. With every shot I’m exploring something new.”

A child who did her math homework in colored pencils, Kaitlyn uses the camera as a bridge between the abstract and the concrete. “The camera is my own artistic organizational tool,” she says. “The constraint of the frame is a comfort, not a limitation. It assists in narrowing down the chaos of the world.” 

Kaitlyn has shot for the Daily Local News, Chester County Cuisine and Nightlife, and WC Dish publications in Chester County, Pennsylvania, as well as the Cornell Chronicle and the Ithaca Journal in Ithaca, New York. Her clients also include Ithaca College, the Upper Main Line YMCA, and Kiss and Make-Up in Malvern, Pennsylvania. She hopes to work as a photogapher in either news or magazine publication.

A selection of Kaitlyn's photography was on display in the 2010 Senior Student Art Show, held at the Handwerker Gallery April 22–May 9.