João Tiago's journal

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Saturday, October 16, 2010 | 4 photos

While working long hours in my office, wanderlust started to creep up, until the words popped into my head, with unshakable resolve: "I have to visit some place far far away". The imagery and historic, cultural and religious richness of India made me fill up my backpack and head to Asia. Most of all I wanted to see the contrast between a typical European country and India. It was in Varanasi, and particularly in the ghats and near the Ganges that I was able to see and capture the most compelling images - and it was there that I was able to experience the good, the bad and the ugly of the country of the Elephant God.
But the photos I submitted do not tell of these contrasts, but rather of the daily life of the people of the shores. How the day is spent tending to the boats - essential for a life near the river - or amidst their family, how the night and dawn are occupied with religious duties. What better way to show a place than with the people's day to day?
Photography always moved me, from a very early age, and as I matured, so did my tastes, and I found myself attracted to travel photography and photojournalism, to the point of considering a career in it. Having no formal training, I had to acquire my skills through research and trial-and-error.
A trip to Bhutan, with the guidance of an experienced photographer, would be the greatest opportunity to work on my skills and prove myself as a reliable photographer with a strong attention to detail.
Technologies and formats come and go, but people always turn to images when they want to know more about far away places and cultures. To be a part of this process, to bring images back from those places, is a great honor and a great responsibility, which I am confident I can answer to.