C4est

My name is Charles Forest. I am a professional photojournalist/ Film Maker working and living in the small but busy northwestern city of Boise ID. My heart and passion is for image making, whether it be through photography, film making or visual art. I firmly believe that imagery can implement change, challenge individuals and organizations to work toward positive change, change in economical, social and racial norms and stereotypes. I believe that imagery can act as a bridge crossing the gap between the poor and the privileged, imagery can help deteriorate racal prejudices, put a halt to genocide and empower culture. Imagery can help save a species and encourage the fight against global warming, imagery can help make our world a better place.I hope that my images act as a voice for change, I want to shoot the world as it is, let the images speak for themselves and let those that see my images be influenced for the better. I believe that words as powerful as they may be, are not enough, they must be accompanied by images so that the people can truly see what is happening everyday in the world we live in. I hope to act as a vessel delivering the world, I want to be a light in the dark and a voice speaking out in the silence of the night.My recent diagnoses of Crohn's Disease has has turned my life into warfare. My life has become a daily struggle for health as I battle on financial and physical fronts. Some days I feel as if I could collapse and just give up and cease living, yet my mind goes toward those in worse situations than me and then I realize that I must overcome, that my voice must be heard, that my voice can make a difference. So here I am, fighting and overcoming for myself and for everyone else facing the overwhelming and seemingly impossible mountains ahead. The doctors say that their is no cure for my disease, yet I will beat it, I am on my way to beating it. They say that everything happens for a reason, my disease has allowed me to hit the very bottom, to know what its like to be desperate, helpless and beat down I have stepped into the shoes that unfortunately so many around the world wear. I believe that if I can tighten my laces and overcome, that others can to, society can overcome, the world can overcome.