The holy city of Varanasi

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Friday, October 8, 2010 | 5 photos

Varanasi is one of the oldest and most sacred cities in the world. Hindus believe it was founded by a god 5,000 years ago; 2,500 years ago the Buddha gave his first talk just outside of town. The way in which its inhabitants face the light in these images reveals something of the spirit of this ancient place.

Two decades ago I turned aside from my passion for photography to create pioneering multimedia. This year 'The Oxford History of the Book' highlighted that work saying that it, "set the intellectual and cultural paradoxes within which the e-book still operates." I don't really know what that means, either. Nonetheless, that wild collection of games and ideas known collectively as If Monks had Macs (http://rivertext.com/) was as beautifully illustrated, quick and deep as I'd like my photo essays to be.

I returned to photography in 2000 to create photo essays and films documenting civil unrest in America for indymedia.org. In 2007 I bought my first DSLR and headed for India where I put together a book of travel photographs. This year I created a portfolio of landscapes in Cambodia and Laos (that I would have submitted here if I had extended their dynamic range with a graduated neutral density filter rather than multiple exposures.) I'm now studying Spanish for a trip next year to South America where I will produce a photo essay about the Bolivian people.

I love traveling and telling stories with images. Assisting a National Geographic photographer would give me an extraordinary opportunity to learn more about the craft and the spirit of travel photography.