Travel and Responsibility

My Photo Scholarship 2010 Entry

Philippines | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | flickr photos

The photos I chose for this scholarship application were among the first ones I ever took on a trip. At the time, I did not even own a camera. It was a friend’s. After the trip though, as I was viewing all the pictures I took, I knew I was hooked, both to travel and to photography.

Since then, a huge part of my monthly savings has been going to my travels around my country, the Philippines. I bought my own camera, too. And with what little knowledge I had about photography, I took on the task of documenting my travels through pictures. At the back my mind, I was hoping that through them, I could inspire people to go out and see the beauty of my country for themselves.

Thankfully, for the most part, I have been successful. I publish my photos in my blog (pxdg.blogspot.com), on Flickr, in my Facebook page, and other social communities I belong in. People respond to my work favorably. They would even ask me for travel tips and advice, which I willingly give.

But then I realized that it was a double-edged sword. I want to encourage people not just to travel but to travel responsibly. Tourism, if not done properly, will have devastating effects on nature and on the local communities.

You can just imagine my admiration for the people of Palawan, a province southwest of the capital Manila, when I discovered that this was their philosophy all along. The pictures I submitted were from an island in Palawan province: Coron island.

If I do get the scholarship and learn what it takes to be a travel photographer, I will make it my goal to feature places such as Palawan. Responsible tourism is possible. The Palaweños work to preserve and at the same time live off the beauty that’s in their backyard. The thousand other travel destinations in the country stand to learn from them.