The Ganges

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Wednesday, October 13, 2010 | flickr photos

The reverence Hindus hold for the Holy Ganga is unparalleled when it comes to worshiping natural phenomenon. They: drink it, pray to it, cook with it, wash clothes in it, drop their dead in it, transport goods on it, offer sacrifices to it, defecate in it, and bathe in it to wash away sin. To them it is the river that falls from heaven. To poke your finger in the Ganges is to poke your finger into eternity.

I snapped these images a few days apart at two different locations on the Ganges, in Varanasi and Haridwar, India. I wanted to show the various meanings that Hindus give to this river, and to document the colorful human community in whose minds the river weighs so heavily.

I'm an American currently studying literature and philosophy at Bogazici University in Istanbul. Only recently, in February, was I able to purchase a camera that isn't a point and shoot. Since then I have fallen deeply in love with photography, taking my camera nearly everywhere, constantly searching for people who can show me how to use it.

It has always been my dream to write for National Geographic, and now, with my new passion for photography, I would like to take great photos for them also.

This scholarship will help immensely with this goal. Because I'm aiming for such a difficult to penetrate field I can use all the assistance I can get. Not only will the scholarship money allow me to have decent equipment, it will also provide me with the sort learning and training I could otherwise not afford.

In the US I worked hard for two years to save enough money to come study in Turkey, the main motivation being to put myself somewhere in the world from where I could launch into a career as a travel writer. Now that that money is nearly gone, this scholarship would be a great blessing.