
Hobbies and interests
Photography and Photo Editing
Printmaking
Art History
Cinematography
Collecting
Concerts
Drawing And Illustration
Graphic Design
Music
Movies And Film
Cars and Automotive Engineering
Spending Time With Friends and Family
Writing
digital art
Skateboarding
Singing
Sustainability
Grayson Rawlings
1x
Finalist1x
Winner
Grayson Rawlings
1x
Finalist1x
WinnerBio
Hello! I'm a freshman Digital Media Production major at UTEP, with a passion for analog photography. My goal in life is to use film and prints to capture and archive life around the world today. I've spent a lot of my life observing the beauty in the lives of others. I want to spend the rest of my life exposing stories from around the world and preserving them in a tangible way.
Education
The University of Texas at El Paso
Bachelor's degree programMajors:
- Film/Video and Photographic Arts
Miscellaneous
Desired degree level:
Master's degree program
Graduate schools of interest:
Transfer schools of interest:
Majors of interest:
- Film/Video and Photographic Arts
Career
Dream career field:
- Photography
Dream career goals:
Photograph and archive contemporary life around the world. Publishing the work in magazines and books for education and art.
Founder
Antidote2023 – 20241 yearMedia production intern
Sandstone Real Estate2026 – Present7 monthsShift Manager/Detailer
MetroTech Automotive2025 – 20261 year
Sports
Skateboarding
Intramural2023 – Present3 years
Karate
Club2013 – 20207 years
Awards
- First Place, National Sparring Tournament Champion
- Black Belt 1st Degree
Arts
The University of Texas El Paso Digital Media Production Association
VideographyMadeline 20262026 – 2026Antidote
Photography2022 – 2025Antidote
Graphic Art2023 – 2025
Public services
Volunteering
Antidote — Co-Founder2023 – 2025
Future Interests
Advocacy
Volunteering
Philanthropy
Entrepreneurship
WCEJ Thornton Foundation Music & Art Scholarship
WinnerDuring the end of high school and what should have been my starting college years, I was spending my time looking through the lens of a cheap camera I got for my 17th birthday. The nature of taking photographs astounded me, I was able to record history, create art, provide evidence and entertainment. I took initiative to learn all I could about the history of cameras and their significance to the history of the world. For the past 100 years, there has been a camera at almost every significant event around the world, recording reality and preserving it. Every photograph was tangible, a physical piece of history with the power to perfectly retell a story. That is not the case anymore and something should be done about it. Photography needs help. As an art form and a recorder of history, it is being pushed out by the use of generative AI and smartphone cameras. It is my goal to present photography with the esteemed respect it deserves, which has become a formidable task. Taking a picture with any respect to the medium has become inaccessible to the general public. Digital photography is unreasonably costly to pursue, film photography will cost you a pound of flesh. This initial bias within the art has diluted the real value of a photograph and its ability to preserve history so perfectly. I want to shine a spotlight on the significance of photography through the most obvious route, taking pictures! And teaching others to do the same. I’d do anything to make sure art isn’t lost in a digital landscape, and photography is falling off the path into a void of artificially generated pixels. I’ve dedicated my life to preventing this. Help me do so.