Finding Beauty

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Thursday, October 13, 2011 | 5 photos

I'm Chris. I like coffee and plain baguettes. It makes traveling rather cheap but not overly cultured.
On a recent trip to Peru it felt like I'd found my true calling for photography.
Finding beauty in places that have no comparison to my western world was refreshing.

To see what makes people happy; a piece of bread, some sacred leaves, as opposed to an iPhone or a gym session.
Comparing what we have to what somebody in the Andes has - an 80's radio, a 2 hour walk to school.

I felt like it had to be documented to show friends who hadn't been; to illustrate a discussion about the unimportance of possessions; it no longer matters whenever I think of this recent experience.
A feeling a photo can't even capture, or is it?

The feeling when you give a child a piece of fruit in this corn and potato territory; is truly priceless.
Those in the Andes are still happier than many people I see on the streets where I live.

This was what I craved the entire trip- not the Starbucks coffee or French baguette.

That craving to create a photo to show someone, and simply leave them with.
Capturing a moment through an image that will stay with them even after they've walked away.

No need to explain where or what it is.
Proving a picture is worth a thousand words.

On my recent trip to Peru, this is what I set out to do. I had sleepless nights because of excitement.
Sounds cliché, but in a different environment to my usual home, this craving to create photos was one of enormity.

I'm Chris. I like coffee and baguettes. Why me? I want to paint pictures worth a thousand words with my camera.