James Hazelwood
In 1975, I had a dream to travel the world as a writer and photographer. So, I did what any teenager would do: I commandeered the family's least-used bathroom and turned it into a darkroom. What started as a teenage rebellion against proper bathroom etiquette became a lifelong obsession with capturing the unguarded moments that make us human.
My writing career ended before it began. A stern Mrs. McKinley ridiculed my writing in a rather public way, something from which most 8th-grade boys don’t recover. It took nearly five decades for a resurrection (and you thought three days in the tomb was a long time), but in 2019, with much support, I powered through and wrote my first book.
My original dream was to be a photojournalist—chasing stories with a camera and the adrenaline of a deadline. Life, however, had other plans, drawing me toward a different career. I loved my work in nonprofits and ministry, but the camera never left my side. I spent years pursuing a side hustle in editorial photography, followed by portraits and weddings, and then travel that took me from the ancient stones of Jerusalem to the crumbling streets of Havana, and the quiet corners of Slovakia.
My work as a writer and photographer is now shifting toward documentary storytelling. I am drawn to projects that support NGOs and charities working to impact the world positively. In addition, personal projects take me to people and places with intriguing stories. Everybody has one; they just haven’t been told… yet.