As it is

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

China | Saturday, October 16, 2010 | 5 photos

My photos were all taken at the SongZanLin Monastery in Zhongdian, Yunnan, China, and I was pretty lucky to visit the place twice during my 1 year stay in Kunming, however, the story I have to tell is pretty sad, as it demonstrates the effect of tourism on the local cultural heritage. When I first visited the place, it was a pretty undisturbed religious site, with a moderate amount of tourism (pictures 1-2 show the amazing setting,3 is a Han Chinese tourist). Then the Tourism Authority decided that the government could make more money if they tidied up and renovated this centuries-old religious site, so in 10 months they bulldozed the main building of the complex and started to add a few new buildings. Picture 4 sets a contrast to picture 1,and picture 5 shows a piece of a wooden wall with a painting from the building, lying broken on the ground. I don't think they ever asked the monks about this.The pictures are all unedited.

About myself: I'm a PhD student at Singapore-MIT Alliance. So how does this come to travel photography? I've been to quite a few places (especially in Asia), and I always wanted to take pictures that really capture the moment and my feelings, so that when I look at them/show them to others, we could experience the same things that I experienced when I was at the particular place. I think I got moderately good at choosing what to take a picture of, but I still have a lot to learn, especially regarding the technical part. I hope to perfect this skill through the scholarship. My final goal, after getting my degree, is to get a job that I can do anywhere with a computer, and just travel the world. Having a degree will just ensure that I won't starve to death, but if I could also take good pictures during my travel, that would be better for everybody.