Learning to see my home in a new light

My Scholarship entry - Revisiting and Redefining A Place Called Home

Malaysia | Monday, November 24, 2014 | 5 photos

I discovered my love for photography since I was young and continued to rediscover it from time to time. We had an old viewfinder film camera and a free toy camera which I used since I was 10. Then there was the rise of camera phones. As I was swept along with the innovation of technology, I continued to love photography in its many formats. I invested the little money I had in an old Smena 8m when I was 16. Today, I continue to learn about photography.

I know that photography is a powerful tool. It can be used to teach people about lives and communities that are strange to themselves. We live in a world where we learn a lot of information about the world but we often forget the cultures in our local communities. My hope is to someday implement a project that would involve youths in cultural immersion projects that can be carried out in local indigenous communities. The set of skills I can take away from this scholarship will not only be invaluable to me, but also to the people I will come in contact with. I hope to teach and learn with youths the power of documenting cultures through photography. This knowledge can then spread out into a larger audience in various communities.