Balinese Cremation

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Indonesia | Tuesday, November 1, 2011 | 5 photos

I love people, am curious about the world, live to travel and am passionate about photography as a story telling tool and as an art form. I often take pictures to use as models for my oil paintings. My preference is taking pictures of people as they are the main reason why I travel.

I am an active member of the couch surfing community and have always followed it's philosophy to help make the world a smaller place. I have traveled to Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Ladakh, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, France, Monaco, Switzerland, England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Seychelles, Mexico, 17 US states, Costa Rica, Morocco, Israel, Lebanon, and Panama. I left my hometown in Vegas at age 17 for NYC, then Paris, then spent a year backpacking through SE Asia at age 19, always with a camera in tow. Yet so much of the world is still to be discovered.

On my life's bucket list is travel to Africa: to experience the wide open spaces, the animals and the people. I would feel so honored to win this scholarship. What a wonderful opportunity to go to Africa! There is still so much I yearn to learn about photography and am an excellent student in a hands on environment. But enough about me.

The pictures I am submitting here are from a trip I made last summer to Bali, Indonesia when I was invited to a private cremation ceremony. The woman who had past was 102 yrs. old and the people in the photos are all her family. I was welcomed into their home and treated as a family member. I am touched by the respect and joy with which this type of funeral is conducted to the point where I feel this is how I would like to pass on when my time comes. I hope to have conveyed that feeling in my photos.

Thank you for considering my submission.