Spirit of Bali

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

China | Tuesday, November 8, 2011 | 5 photos

These photographs came about while I was wandering Shanghai shooting some photos for the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards. I had previously been short listed in the first shot category in 2008 and Commended in the same category in 2009. But I wanted to have my shots recognised in the professional portfolio categories; hence I set out specifically to shoot for the Culture & Traditions portfolio. I came across this young boy making noodles for his family's tiny street restaurant. I had been playing with spinning the zoom while taking the photograph to see what it added to the composition. I am glad I branched out from my normal still-frame photographs.
Though I have never taken a professional photography course, I have collected all the books I can get my hands on and my travel photography has improved immensely each year when I go on my next trip. I love landscape photography but my favourite is taking photographs that include people interacting with their surroundings. I like to display joy in my photographs because I feel the world is too full of cruelty and depression and we forget that things can be joyous and uplifting. I am also a writer and recently organised my dream mentorship with one of my favourite authors. I had not realised until then how much a mentorship means to you, your growth and your visibility. I believe in my mentorship so much that I even went part-time at work to make sure I made the best of my opportunity. That is what I would do for this opportunity. I would drop everything to make it, and all the opportunities provided by it, to happen. Because that is the only way you can live life. By meeting each opportunity head-on and with everything you have.