Sacred Circle Healthcare's Youth Social Powwow

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to photograph Sacred Circle Healthcare's Youth Social Powwow in Salt Lake City. Powwows are some of my favorite events to photograph, but not simply because they're visually beautiful. Every time I photograph one, I leave feeling connected to something much bigger than myself.

I come from a long line of storytellers.

For generations, stories were shared through spoken word, songs, teachings, and gatherings. They carried history, humor, lessons, identity, and memory. While my own form of storytelling looks very different, I often think photography is simply a modern continuation of that tradition.

When I photograph a powwow, I don't feel like I'm documenting an event. I feel like I'm helping preserve stories.

The stories aren't always found in the grand entries or the dance competitions. Sometimes they're in a young dancer nervously adjusting their regalia before entering the arena. Sometimes they're in a grandmother watching from the sidelines. Sometimes they're in the laughter between friends, the exchange between vendors and community members, or a parent looking at their child with pride.

Those moments may seem small, but they're often the moments people remember years later.

Photography has given me a way to participate in storytelling while honoring the traditions that came before me. My camera may be modern, but the purpose feels familiar. I am still documenting people, relationships, values, and community. I am still helping preserve memories that might otherwise fade with time.

For this event, Sacred Circle Healthcare wanted photographs that could serve two purposes. They wanted families and dancers to have a gallery they could enjoy and look back on, and they also wanted images that could help promote future events and encourage community participation.

I always ask clients how they plan to use their photographs because that intention influences how I approach the day. If families will be viewing the gallery, I focus heavily on faces, emotions, and relationships. If images will be used for promotion, I pay close attention to composition, details, and storytelling moments that help communicate the feeling of the event to someone who wasn't there.

Balancing those goals is part of the challenge, but it's also part of what makes event photography so rewarding.

Throughout the day, I photographed dancers, artists, vendors, families, drum groups, and community members coming together to celebrate culture, tradition, and connection. More than anything, I walked away grateful.

As a Native American photographer, moments like these remind me why I picked up a camera in the first place. Photography allows me to preserve memories, support my community, and contribute to the ongoing tradition of storytelling in my own way.

The tools may have changed. The purpose hasn't.