The purpose of Colton to Carolina is to bring all of the art from coast to coast home, my paintbrush is my camera and even though I cannot draw, I let my pictures showcase my creativity and artistic ability. The pictures I take are unique; my goal is to take a picture that initiates a story in the viewers mind.
It all started at a young age when my father would get his camera out and would take our pictures every chance he got, it seemed like. The years went by and photo albums grew, the pictures continued to go on ours walls at home in Colton. During those years I didn’t want sit still for a family picture, I also didn’t get excited about the cameras presence; Look at me now! Even though I still can’t sit still I love taking photographs for the memories they leave behind and everlasting story they reveal when you look into them. So why did I have something against Photography at an early age? Maybe it was like a childhood crush, boys don’t act nice to the girls they like most, or perhaps I wasn’t ready to grow up because in the back of mind I knew that is what I wanted down the road or You could just say that I am turning into my dad; if that is the case I could not be prouder of how I am turning out.
My name is Nicholas Bates; I was raised in Colton Washington and graduated from Central Washington University in June 2003. I started taking a strong interest in photography when I was driving across the country to Winston-Salem North Carolina. Until August of 2003 I have never lived outside of the state of Washington, on my trip to my brother’s house in North Carolina I found out just how beautiful the United States really was. I hope you enjoy the pictures that I have taken, although this is the early stages of Colton to Carolina I hope by the end of my journey I will have taken a paintbrush and left my mark on every state and leave a lasting impression on you.