Discovering Bagan

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Friday, October 15, 2010 | flickr photos

I was born in the UK and brought up in France where I was educated at a French national school with international sections. I feel that this cosmopolitan experience at an early age fuelled my travel ethic – infuse yourself in the culture of the country you are visiting, share your ways of life and learn from each other.

In 2008, I completed my PhD in the UK and jumped on a plane to South America to begin what became a two year voyage of discovery of the world, myself, and photography. I have never had a lesson in photography, but as I have travelled the world my photos have improved through trial and error. The photography scholarship would allow me to further improve my ability, learn new techniques and finally have the hands on experience of taking photos with a strict idea in mind. I already feel that I have benefited from this scholarship, as even selecting my entries has made me think differently about how I take my photos and how they tie together. I would love to have a career in photography, and I feel that the scholarship would be an amazing next step.

When travelling, I always try to leave the track and head into the unknown, and so I ended up in Myanmar. The plains at Bagan are littered with temples, and I was struck by the peaceful solitude that could be found there. Myanmar is off the standard South East Asia backpacker’s route, and Bagan is one of the country’s biggest draws. I still barely saw any locals there, let alone tourists. There are so many temples and almost no information documenting them. As such, the visitor is drawn into the world of the explorer in each building, and the treasures that are discovered inside make for a very personal experience. I wanted to demonstrate one such discovery in my photo series.