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Fang-Od, The Culture Bearer

Philippines | Friday, November 21, 2014 | 5 photos

As an aspiring travel photographer, I want to focus my work on culture, particularly in indigenous cultures and ancient architectures. I joined this contest, not because I want to win for the sake of winning, but because I want to learn more about the art of storytelling.

Earlier this year, I enrolled in a photography course in Matador University and bought David duChemin’s book called “Within the Frame” to improve my photography and storytelling skills. I have a camera that I bought a couple of years ago. I could say that I like my photos individually, but I couldn’t seem to figure out what’s missing.

After spending some time studying, shooting, traveling and reading, I realised that I didn’t have some sort of principles, philosophy or goal whenever I shoot. I was just, in a way, trigger-happy with my camera, that no matter how many photos I’ve taken in a trip, I couldn’t put them all together to create a proper story. From that day on, I shifted from taking photos of random interesting things to aiming to capture a vision and tell a story with my photographs. I have been this far, but I have also wanted to learn more. My vision is to preserve and promote local indigenous cultures with my photography, and I want to get better at storytelling and be more intentional with my compositions.

For me, photography isn't so much about me and my portfolio, but about exploring the world, and creating compelling images for stories that inspire people to learn and take action using creative storytelling and composition techniques that I hope to gain if I win the scholarship. This is how I want to serve my community. I want to use my photography to make this world a better place for everyone.