Life Stages on the Eurasian Steppe

Three Life Stages on the Eurasian Steppe

Worldwide | Friday, September 17, 2010 | 3 photos

I've been rather peripatetic in the last year, verging on nomadic; my quest to see more than my computer screen can show me has led me to study and travel in Eastern Tibet, Xinjiang (East Turkestan), Kazakhstan, Beijing, and Lebanon. My strong language ability and trusting nature allow me to form friendships with locals quickly, and thus I find myself in off-the-beaten-track situations frequently. For instance, in Kazakhstan, I made friends a young man who was on his way to visit an elderly shaman woman in the countryside. Thus, I accompanied him and spent a full week staying with her in a small corrugated metal house on the steppe. Out of respect, I did not photograph the shaman herself, but the 3 photos that I am submitting were all taken near her quarters. Although I'm pleased with the photographs I did take, I regret the many moments that slipped by without my lens' attention. How rare for an American to witness a Kazakh Sufi shaman sacrificing a sheep to cure a young man's illness, and what a shame that after watching that, I cannot show it to others!

If chosen to travel with Jason Edwards to Bhutan to photograph wildlife, I hope to learn how to approach my subject without being invasive. All too often, I hesitate to use my camera out of fear of causing a disturbance, as I did with the shaman. Furthermore, I would be a helpful companion to Mr. Edwards because I have studied Tibetan language, religion, culture, and history, so I'm more familiar with Bhutan than the average young person. After I volunteer for the Peace Corps (starting in 2011), I'm interested in pursuing a career in journalism. If awarded this scholarship, I would utilize my skills and equipment to document my time with the Peace Corps and afterward, incorporate photography into my career.