David Kasnic – 2011 SPA Finalist | Luceo Images

STUDENT PROJECT AWARD

$I can remember the day I found out you passed. It was cold, in the middle of winter but it hadn\'t snowed it quite some time. Everyday I find something new that reminds me of the feeling I felt that day. It was like falling over in a line at a cafeteria and everyone stays standing with their trays while you look up at them from the ground empty handed. I still feel empty handed like there is something I\'m constantly missing and searching for.$

Mario and Romaine Slovega, of San Diego, Calif., walk through a maze of lights, sounds and pyrotechnics while on Ecstasy at Electric Daisy Carnival that took place on June 26, 2010 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

$A television sits with a commercial frozen on the screen that reads \$

A group of teenage ravers dance on stage at Unzipped: The No Pants Dance Experience presented by the Horrible Children promotion club in Atlanta, in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 14, 2010. No pants were allowed inside of the venue, and acceptable clothing included long shirts, underwear, togas, boxers and dresses. A number of teens were high on Ecstasy, acid, DMT and Ketamine at the rave.

Hannah Beach, of Bowling Green, Ky., sits alone in her room after discussing the topic of sexual intercourse.

$A group of teens who call themselves \$ $As I watched this fantasy that was my life happen in front of me, I felt compelled to remember it through my camera. I would wake up every day and ask myself, almost tell myself, \$ $Attendees of the Borgore concert hosted by DMZ dance to international DJ Borgore\'s \$

A 14-year-old girl watches her boyfriend, also 14, dry heave after drinking the bottoms of their parents beer at the Orange County Fair on July 16, 2010 in Costa Mesa, Calif.

$Four young adults in their early 20\'s, who wished to remain anonymous, remove pizza that was thrown into the bathtub while being splashed with water in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 12, 2010. The four jumped into the bathtub after a dance party at the house with beer and pizza.$ $A man forces himself to throw up because he took too many pills of Ecstasy. \$

Towards the end of august, reality sunk in through a mix of an empty wallet, addiction to 24/7 social interaction and surface level relationships.

It felt like I was dissolving, day after day.

By the end of the year I realized I needed to let go. Let go from the pain and anger I carried around all year and just accept what happened. Accept that I can’t bring this person back to life by carrying out the life that they lived.

David Kasnic – 2011 SPA Finalist

Let Go

“Let Go” revolves around my life for the past year in 2010 and how I dealt with the passing of someone close to me. The year went from dreamlike to reality. The countless nights of binge drinking, drug use, promiscuous sex and no responsibility; Wild and exciting too sad and confusing. In a way, I dealt with the loss by living out the same lifestyle. I would wake up every day and ask myself, almost tell myself, “What the hell am I doing?” But somehow I would make it two hours and repeat what I had done the night before.

As I watched this fantasy that was my life happen in front of me, I felt compelled to remember it through my camera. Towards the end of august, reality sunk in through a mix of an empty wallet, addiction to 24/7 social interaction and surface level relationships. My habits were steadfast and I was collecting new ones everyday.

Months went by. It felt like I was dissolving, day after day. Then, on Christmas Day, I was watching television in a garage when a commercial froze on the screen. “Let go,” was stuck on the screen for about five minutes and I realized I needed to let go. Let go from the pain and anger I carried around all year and just accept what happened as an important life lesson, to accept that I can’t bring this person back to life by carrying out the life that they lived. I can’t say that I’ve fully accomplished this or let go entirely of this person, but the year 2010 saved my life.

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