Photography teacher Marie Durquet’s blog, called “Think, Look, Make,” features snapshots of different moments she witnesses during her travels around the local community and the world. Durquet started the blog with the aim to explore other branches of art and important social issues, such as women’s rights, the environment and cultural identity; Durquet is Basque, an ethnic group from an area called the Basque Country, which includes parts of Spain and France. “My work is always photography-based somehow, but the blog is about how photographs allow you to think about other things too,” she said.

The blog is also a place where she can contemplate her life by reflecting on the photographs she takes. “It’s more like my thoughts,” Durquet said. “It’s almost like a journal, or my musings. A couple of the articles are more kind of serious, but mainly it’s a little like a journal, things that I’m experiencing or that have happened in my life that I make photography about.”

Durquet wants her students to practice publishing their work, so she assigns her Advanced Photo students the task of creating their own blogs. “I want them to be able to edit their work and choose their best things, which is hard to edit down,” she said. “Then [they] present [their photos] in a way that looks polished and professional, [which helps] them see their work in one place and share it with other people.”

However, due to Durquet’s teaching schedule, she does not post regularly during the school year. “I have to be inspired by something for me to want to post,” she said. “I don’t just post regularly. So often the summertime is when I get inspired because I get the chance to travel.”

All in all, blogging is Durquet’s creative outlet to share her passion for photography with the world. “I think [blogging is] like social media, but much better, because people are putting time into writing [posts] and they’re taking ownership of it,” Durquet said. “It’s really a way to get connected with other people that are interested in the same things that you are.”