travel book

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

The photos were all taken in China where I spent 4,5 month this year, studying fine art as an exchange student at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.
After my semester in Tianjin I started travelling northwest to experience the differences of this vast country first hand. A Buddhist woman I had got to know earlier on, had recommended a place to me, where I would be able to more intensely encounter Buddhism, witness sky burials and even meet living Buddhas. My teachers at the academy all tried to dissuade me from going there, as the roads would be too dangerous and foreign people wouldn’t be allowed there anyway. Although these arguments made me feel a bit unsure I set out on my trip. Some of the roads were under construction, because earthquakes had destroyed them. It was scary to see masses of solid material on the move - but I managed to continue. The last leg of my journey was the gate to the Buddhist school. As the security guards did not do their job well, I gained entrance. The place was miraculous! The photos I’m sending you were taken on the mountains around, in the village and in the women’s dormitory.

On other occasions I have been able to travel to Ghana, India and Cambodia always looking for the difference of my own experience versus the learned facts.
I’d love to go to Bhutan, as it is a place in the East that is on the verge of slowly opening up to foreigners. Some years ago I got interested in Bhutan by reading the biographical book of Jamie Zeppa, who had lived there teaching English.
The scholarship you offer would enable me to “see for myself”. I’m an experienced traveller with a good level of fitness, always keen on exploring new places, which I document and share through photography. I have a degree in Biology, which reveals my deep interest in nature. And I am willing to learn more. That’s why I gave up my teaching job two years ago. Instead of repeating things out of books I wanted to enlarge my own knowledge. I’m currently enrolled as a fine arts student at the Art Academy in Karlsruhe, Germany. The scholarship you offer would give my studies a new direction as well as intensifying cherished interests of mine.