Alone Among Millions https://journals.worldnomads.com/meagannolan/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:58:35 GMT World Nomads Adventures This past year, while working on my dual Masters in International Sustainable Tourism, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to West Bengal, India, to conduct research for my thesis. During my three months in West Bengal, I was often inundated with the chaos that accompanies millions of inhabitants in close proximity. As a consequence, I sought out brief moments of solitude outside the cacophony of confusion that people typify as India. My photos speak to the ‘Other’ India, one of insular solitude, isolation, or silence. I sought to create a 'place portrait' in contrast to the commonly expected. I believe that the place between a lived experience and a photograph is the space in which an idea is created; the idea that a place becomes important because someone or something has been there. As photographer Lewis Hine stated, “If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera.” I discovered how true this was during my experience in India. To me, a camera can become a valuable social and cultural tool demonstrating the myriad changes in our world, defining reality, and ultimately telling a story of people and their place. I received my first SLR camera this past year and have had no formal training in photography. My experience so far has been an emotional relationship with the camera rather than a technical one. I have much to learn and the great desire to do so. The opportunity to work with, and learn from, Jason Edwards would be an invaluable experience, one that I could employ to further my work in fostering sustainable social, cultural, and environmental awareness. https://journals.worldnomads.com/meagannolan/photos/25295/Worldwide/My-Photo-scholarship-2010-entry Travel Worldwide meagannolan https://journals.worldnomads.com/meagannolan/photos/25295/Worldwide/My-Photo-scholarship-2010-entry#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/meagannolan/photos/25295/Worldwide/My-Photo-scholarship-2010-entry Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:26:00 GMT 0