The Business of Luck

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | flickr photos

I like to take picture. I’m the one people always have to wait for because I’m waiting for the truck to get out of my shot. Or I’m cracking a joke with the old Vietnamese lady who’s rolling dumplings and speaks no English, creating a relationship and giving my portrait more meaning. I’ve learned that photography is as much philosophy as technical skill, it’s an art form; an expression of your experience. I want to further hone my skills as a photographer to tell not only my own stories, but to dig deeper and find out what’s lying beneath the surface.

I like to capture people and places in their truest forms, to use photography to break down language and cultural barriers. In Cambodia I donated cameras – and a few hours of basic photography lessons - to the children in the shelter where I was volunteering because I wanted to see the world through their eyes. It was a pleasure to see how each one told a different story.

I am self-taught, I learned from magazines and online articles. But by far the richest learning experience comes from person-to-person interaction. I would love the opportunity to work with Jason and see how a real National Geographic photographer does it; what tricks have you learned in your time and do you experience the same pitfalls? We’re all human beings after all.

My photoset depicts Kyoto, Japan but also has an underlying theme “The business of luck”. On my trip to Japan in April 2010 I was awed by the beauty and majesty of the Japanese temple, as I think most visitors are, especially during cherry blossom season. But on closer inspection I discovered that the whole temple experience is less about spirituality these days and more about money which, while disappointing, created a unique opportunity for me to tell my side of the story.