Lake Titicaca

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Peru | Wednesday, October 13, 2010 | 5 photos

Through my lens, I experience new places more authentically. I move slowly and take time to immerse myself in the new environment, to talk to the people I photograph, and to understand as much as I can about where I am. I create with my body by arranging myself in relation to objects and people, drawing exclusively from what exists without my meddling. It is the fleeting, the unseen, the mundane, or the silent that I strive to capture and consider. I strive to create photographs that are sensitive, and meaningful—that look at a place with understanding and fairness to the people and animals that live there. I am not interested in simply documenting otherness or spectacle. I use only ambient light, and never manipulate my images.

I am including images I took in Lake Titicaca, Peru. I traveled there with several friends carrying bulging backpacks on our backs. We took overnight buses from town to town to get there. We stayed with a local family on a small island in the lake, speaking to them in our broken Spanish and with our smiles. In the photographs, I explore the physical strain of the people and as well as their peace. The bright colors of their textiles contrast the dry, harsh land and climate.

I studied Photography and Art History at Columbia University in New York City. Currently, I am working a day job to support my photography and finding it increasingly difficult to fund travel, or take the time off. It has been while traveling that I have created my most powerful images, and found the greatest fulfillment in my craft. It would be an honor to have the opportunity to travel to Bhurma, to learn about the land, culture, and people, and to document what I experience with my lens.