Water/Journey — a photo essay

  The rolling hills and plains of Ohio prepared me for my summer in Iowa. I grew up surrounded by nature, summers reserved as time to explore the woods and streams near my house, my bike my constant companion.

Now, as a photojournalist, I find myself chasing stories that are rooted in nature.

Arriving in Iowa in May, I immediately recognized the abundance of nature and the role it plays in the community, specifically the water.

In Iowa, I began to pay attention to how other people interact with water, and their reasons for seeking it out.

I could rely on encountering water scenes daily or weekly — the fishermen along the bridges in downtown Cedar Rapids and on Robbins Lake in Ellis Park, the Five Seasons Water Ski Team each Thursday on the Cedar River, families congregating on the beach of Lake Macbride, boats flying through the water at the Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area near Palo, the large irrigation systems watering the farm fields along Interstate 80, families hiking through the creeks and ponds at the Indian Creek Nature Center, and the water games keeping children cool throughout the summer.

Water is life, a source of food, a means for transportation, a relaxing experience, an adventure, a journey short or long — becoming something different for each person who encounters it.

- Hannah Schroeder, who interned at The Gazette this summer, is a senior photojournalism student at Ohio University.