College Admissions Essay: I Seek the Grail :: College Admissions Essays

I Seek the Grail   You travel and see what the television camera saw. The wonder of the tender-hearted mind, heart, wit, and instinct... You might catch yourself saying, Im not a extraterrestrial being here. John Mahtesian   John Mahtesians photography offers a visual poetry of the human condition. It is a direct expression of his warmth, depth of spirit, and humanity. A true gentleman, highly humble and unfailingly polite, he achieves an invisibility that is the success of his art. His patience and trueness to his vision allow him to capture moments others could not. If his subjects atomic number 18 aware of his presence, his gentle personality so enchants them that they are unguarded and their essence is revealed. So compelling are his images that we are truly convinced his insights are our own. They make us feel in the world around us, and in the nature of human existence.   Mahtesians pity understanding of the human condition began early as the youngest chi ld of Armenian immigrants who settled in cabbages south side. Born in 1915, Johns life was fill up with all things Armenian. His parents spoke little English and their attachment to Armenia - the newspaper they point and the stories they told - spurred in him longings to see their beloved homeland and to venture beyond his Chicago neighborhood. Ever attentive to the caring of his parents, Johns desire to experience and capture the wonders of other packs and places unfolded slowly and gently.   It wasnt until 1974 that fate opened the door for him to go to Armenia - a dismount he had been preparing for his entire life. The events leading to this lifelong aspiration are a testament to his hard work, loyalty, and a belief in steadily engage his dreams. That first trip to his ancestral homeland began a personal photographic project that included nine visits over a period of fifteen years. The many images he captured of markets, churches, artists, and people attending to their daily lives, gave reality to the stories he heard from his parents and fulfilled an unspoken commitment to his family legacy.   As most people who have lived a long while, John Mahtesian can look with admiration on the events of his life and the twists and turns that have shaped his journey. Although he began his commitment to learning and creating art in his early twenties, he didnt start taking photographs in a serious way until the age of 40.