Jukung

A 'place' I have visited

Indonesia | Tuesday, July 2, 2013 | flickr photos

In 2008, I went to Asia for six months; I stayed 39. I took portraits of locals in remote villages, found I had a talent, and considered turning professional. But photography had changed me: in trying to capture the world, I’d distanced myself from it. I no longer saw people, but potential photographs, so I stopped taking pictures altogether.

I’d been living in a small mountain town in northern Vietnam, and became friends with the young Hmong girls that came to town selling trinkets, in particular a girl named May. After I left Vietnam, May was kidnapped. She phoned her friend from the back of a motorcycle headed for China, and nobody has heard from her since.

I’ve decided to go back to Asia to find the subjects of my best 100 portraits, photograph them again, and learn their stories to share them with the world. It will be a 6-month, 20,000-kilometre journey through 9 countries, to raise awareness of human trafficking.

I haven’t taken any photographs for years. I am determined to develop my talent to a level that will do justice to the project and bring this issue the attention it deserves, to increase my chances of finding May and bringing her home to her family.

Thanks.