My Photo scholarship 2010 entry
Indonesia | Friday, October 15, 2010 | 5 photos
My photos are from a series of trips that I have taken to my mother's village, Batu Baraguang, in West Sumatra, Indonesia, over the past 5 years. This place is a third home for me, having grown up in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, and having lived in Melbourne, Australia (my father's birthplace), since 2005. Yet, sadly, my longest stay has been only 2 weeks. And so what I take from it are moments like those captured in these photos: the exchanges, the encounters, the rituals and the processes which help me learn, know, and re-familiarize myself with my mother's birthplace. After all, it is through its people that a place takes on stories and meaning.
It is wanting to understand these stories that drive me in my photography - the relationships people have with each other, with their various places, and the ways in which they give meaning to, and leave traces in, their physical surroundings. Above all I enjoy capturing people as they pass through life - whether they be sitting still, walking, dancing, conversing, or making music. I love to both watch a place be brought to life by the people that inhabit it, and capture those special moments of animation.
This opportunity would be an incredible one, not only for the chance to capture a beautiful place and its people but also to be able to hone my (currently amateur!) skills and learn from a professional - what a wonderful opportunity indeed! For me, photography is most definitely a form of art, and, as any other form, it requires training, practice, and perseverance. But it is also, importantly, a form of communication. If used correctly, it can help build understanding and compassion. Thus in the future I sincerely wish to use my photography to convey both the beauty, and the suffering, that I see in the world around me.
