We've all heard it before: "You're too young to understand." Leah Judson is an image maker based in Washington, D.C., and is determined to change the narrative of our incoming youth. Her strategy? She'll be flipping a bus into a mobile studio and driving it across the US. She'll find and interview 12 voices under 21 who are defying the nation's expectations but are somehow being overlooked. This adventurous series is called Before We Could Drink, and it will incorporate photography, film, and audio recordings that will intimately tell each character's 'why' and their decision to drown out the noise and keep chasing their dream. This project is about creating a platform for young minds to express themselves without interruptions and for older generations to connect and see the work that can be done for our younger communities.
Imposter Syndrome became a crippling, emotional disease for many like-minded friends and colleagues of mine. I felt hesitant to raise my hand, claiming the same symptoms because it went deeper than self-doubt. I found that I was missing clarity on my WHY and that I was holding myself back from saying YES to any ideas I had that were beyond the constraints of normalcy in my community.
I wanted to be a photojournalist since I received my first camera, a rinky-dink FUJIFILM Finepix, when I was living in Germany, during high school. My early access to multicultural experiences as a Third Culture Kid etched my wonderment for humanity and effortlessly made me curious about others, but as an adult, I went from curiosity to boredom. I became a self-prescribed hermit, ostracizing myself from other photographers and creative circles in fear that I would be seen for my wavering confidence and my degrading passion for photography. I felt scared that I stopped loving what I thought I was meant to do.
This led me to create and commit four years of my life to a local series called, Behold.Her, where I focused on providing women an intimate space to share stories about stigmatized topics without phones or sharing what we did for a living. In the middle of those discussions, I would photograph and interview each woman so they had the opportunity to share with the public what they felt about the topic. A community quickly grew, but COVID-19 grew faster and blocked the next iteration of the series from continuing.
Out of a thirst for change, my solution was to tell my husband that I needed to run away and spend time figuring out what I wanted to do next. I spent the following four weeks driving through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington State with little phone connection, my camera, and a lot of peanut butter. This time alone not only led me to an “ah-hah” moment, but it reignited my love for adventure, connection, and storytelling. A month later I casually shared an idea that came to my mind on the trip. Shortly after, FUJIFILM encouraged me to pitch it to them. I was energized and terrified since it was my first time being in front of a global company. I believed in my concept, but I didn’t believe in myself, which delayed the process.
After months of re-pitching, something clicked.
“You need to start believing in your own hype,” I was told after they said yes. “You weren’t listening to yourself and there’s a lesson in that.” Although the process was lengthy, it challenged me to see that a big reason why I didn’t love the work I was creating was that I denied myself the pleasure of recognizing my power. That discovery built the foundation of confidence I needed to create my first documentary series, Before We Could Drink.
Before We Could Drink (BWCD) is a tribute to youth under 21 who are rewriting their stories of what society tells them they are capable of. So often we make age a variable for success or wisdom. These phenomenally ordinary Americans are paving the way for both their peers and adults to erase narratives of what’s impossible for young people.
Seven stories will be filmed and photographed all across the United States for three months in a 2002 Chevy short bus as my mobile studio and home. I chose a bus, not as a paradigm to our subject, but to allow more space and storage than a van. I’ll have a FUJIFILM X-T4 with an Atamos Ninja V monitor for filming my featurettes and a FUJIFILM GFX100s to capture my images. Equipped with a Zoom LiveTrak L-8 Podcast kit, I will be able to stay mobile and work in different environments if we can’t record interviews on the bus because of weather or noise.
With my co-pilot Jen Eun, we’ll work together as a small team, conquering 12,000 miles to reach each story and capture what unravels beyond the final deliverables. With no AC, minimal solar power, and a Home Depot bucket as our toilet, I know that this project will be more challenging than I can imagine. Yet, reflecting on where I started and then taking a step back to see all of my beautiful friends, family, and colleagues helping me get on the road quickly really captures what it looks like when you lead with your heart and believe in yourself.
Be sure to check back for new episodes of Before We Could Drink here on Explora!
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