All Photos By: Michael Watkins

"Shooting different events I've come to find that the camera acts as a sort of barrier or a shield, its like a protective device that you put between yourself and whatever is transpiring so you don't really feel anything. I'm not saying photographers or photojournalists don't have emotion, I'm saying that we are so caught up in the moment and the obsession with getting the shot, and doing our job that we get lost in our work. We aren't there to interfere, we are there to get the shot, the image that makes people talk, the image that brings awareness, the image that makes people stop and say "wow." The emotion that escapes us during the assignment or job is not lost, it manifests later in the form of flashbacks, and memories, both good and bad. Thats when you realize what you're doing and why you're doing it, and thats when it hits home, thats when its all worth it."

- Michael Watkins