Joe's Epic Trek

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Myanmar | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

Late last year, on a whim, I packed up my suitcase, sub-leased my New York City apartment and within a week was backpacking through South East Asia. Visiting five countries, I knew there was something special waiting to be discovered aside from the tourist trail.

I found it in Myanmar. I traveled to the Shan State in the northeast and had one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Just my government-issued guide and I and armed with only my iPhone 3GS camera (I know), I sought to capture some of the essence of these wonderful people and their culture; the famous Tibeto-Burman hill tribes. What the camera lacked in quality, it made up for in the way it was discretely incorporated into my surroundings and I was able to interact with the Akah people without them feeling self conscious of a large camera, which many are wary of. I was invited into their bamboo homes and was present for a wedding dance and celebration, something my guide said he had never seen. I took a portrait of their ancient chief, so that his grandchildren would remember him when he was gone as he had never had a picture of himself. He was so happy, he was moved to tears.

Since coming back to the west I have dreamed to go back (with a better camera) and capture more of the beauty of these cultures. I was researching becoming a travel photographer and came across this contest. In New York I have assisted my cousin who is a fashion photographer and I have had the pleasure to work with well-known photographers Timothy Greenfield Sanders and David LaChapelle. I have worked most in the medium of film and currently have a film at the New York Film Festival, "All Flowers in Time" starring Chloe Sevigny and directed by Jonathan Caouette. In the East I have traveled to Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, and Cambodia, mostly on my own and with a guidebook.

This opportunity would allow me to pursue my dream of becoming a travel photographer.