Myanmar

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, November 6, 2011 | 5 photos

I try to create images that inspire and reflect my direct experience with the natural environment and with people. I strive to go beyond documenting places and people because I want my images to validate my experiences, rather than the other way around.
I am constantly seeking different ways to capture my images even using vintage cameras to embrace the medium and then digitalising these images. Every image I create is presented from my perspective of living the experiences rather than just observing the lives of others.
I believe that being able to live out of my imagination is the key to a deeply meaningful life. Therefore I constantly seek new challenges to imagine, all the while striving for those keystone images that will resonate with all of us.
I have recently travelled to Myanmar and was delighted to be able to document the lives of the people. Having been subjected to censorship and oppression for so many years by the military junta, the joy and happiness of the people at seeing and interacting with travellers was genuinely heartfelt and exuberant. I enjoyed the mutualistic relationship that often ensued.
I would love to be selected for the South African experience because of the opportunity to learn from a travel professional and the chance to try to capture the essence of South Africa. I am not talking just about the big five, but more importantly, I would like to document the people - the Nguni, the Sotho-Tswana, the Tsonga, and the Venda and their diverse cultures.
I often imagine what the country would have been like fifty years ago and that I understand that the wilderness is what has been preserved in the small pockets of the game preserves. Along with the amazing people, this is the South Africa that I would love the opportunity to capture.