"I asked her if she was a photographic purist, she said she wasn't sure. But I am sure - she is indeed a purist, a humanist with an intense sense of heart and conscience in her photographs." Mary Ellen Mark introduces Young Photographers Alliance/Alamy Scholar Julianne Jamora. click for more

"Julie Jamora is a very mature young woman - mature way beyond her 20 years. She has a strong sense of self and a powerful political and cultural purpose and principle - especially concerning the Philippines.

When I met her, I asked why she loved photography. She told me it was because she wants to document a specific moment in time and keep her memories intact. I think this is why there's a timeless intimacy about her images. Her love of photography first came from spending hours looking through old family albums as a young girl. I can really connect with this because I did the same thing.

I was very moved by Julie's portraits of her next-door neighbor, "Jack's World" - they are unique and intimate. They show a very lonely man lost in his past and surrounded by sad memories. I asked her if she was a photographic purist. She said she wasn't sure. But I am sure - she is indeed a purist, a humanist with an intense sense of heart and conscience in her photographs.

"Congratulations Julie."
- Mary Ellen Mark

Julie is a junior at SVA in New York. In her essay - which is an important part of the scholarship application process - she writes:

"I hail from a family of pack rats, and as a child I never had a problem keeping my mind occupied. The day I stumbled upon the Mecca of family photographs in our garage was a significant, life-changing moment. I became obsessed; I searched everywhere and began collecting these treasures long forgotten by my parents, sitting in containers and tucked away drawers that reeked of time. The older I became, the more I began to piece together these little clues of my family's existence through old letters and photographs. I began to form a quasi- realistic story in my mind about what they were like. I was so curious; my parents have never mentioned anything about the Philippines to me, so I had to seek it out for myself.

In middle school I became involved with the Filipino American National Historical Society. I helped to produce two books, which documented the oral histories from the elder Filipinos/Filipinas residing in Virginia Beach, Virginia and their experiences with coming to America and how they managed to thrive in the United States. I was also involved in the Filipino American Cultural Society, which educated/ taught history through plays, spoken word, or poetry. These organizations enabled me to understand my cultural identity at such a young age, as well as to give me a creative and positive outlet to express myself.

A lot of my work deals with my family, culture, history, but most importantly from deep buried memories of the past in relation to how I confront them today. I first began composing photographs of obvious imagery like documenting my family in a photojournalistic light, where I depicted straightforward images of poverty and of the living conditions they experienced in the Philippines. Although I translated these sad images into beauty, I wanted my work to become more conceptual and to have more depth. As my knowledge and curiosity grew I developed a heightened level of critical thinking; that once-skewed story of my family that I formed in my head as a child began to surface and come full circle as I began to fill in the clues. I began to question and in turn understand. Why don't I know my family in the Philippines? Why do we send our old clothes back home? Why are all Filipino mother's nurses? Why am I Catholic? Why America?

I began to take portraits of my direct family members and explore loneliness, longing and time by shooting portraits of my neighbor.

Roland Barthes believed that the photograph documents death, everything that is or will become death. These are portraits of my neighbor Jack, who lives in the space created by him and his mother who passed away in 2002. Jack is surrounded by images all over the house - images of the deceased - grandparents, brothers and his father. He is trapped in time and these photographs tell his fate. The image of the mirror is significant because it is telling of this - the mirror in a way loses its purpose and becomes an image in itself, as he will become one day.

Another series is entitled Faith. These photographs are of my niece and deal with the very temporal state of adolescence. The grey jump suit disguises her figure and confuses her age. These images confront feelings of insignificance, loneliness in childhood, and growing up in the suburbs.

I have made a conscious decision to make a life committed to the community and youth. I am currently a member of Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment, and coach gymnastics in public schools and churches around Brooklyn, New York. I hope to show my work in galleries and museums around the world, while creating programs to teach photography and art to Filipino children in the Philippines/ U.S. and to create books that specifically showcase Filipino/Filipino American contemporary artists. Everything moves in cycles. It will eventually be my time to pay homage to the ones who have inspired me, and I can think of no other way than to better my community."

Young Photographers Alliance (YPA) is a global community where young photographers connect with the inspiration, resources and contacts they need to build successful and sustainable careers as the artists and communicators of the future.

Learn more at www.youngphotographersalliance.org