Lost in Napalese Village Life

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Monday, November 7, 2011 | 5 photos

"Dude, you should totally work for National Geographic". Before finding out about this scholarship I took comments like that as an encouraging joke more than anything else. It didn't seem realistic. Why should I have this chance? I run back for the photo other people walk away from. I jump to get the high angle and crawl for the low. From the minute I wake up I see the world around me and wonder what it would look like through the lens of my camera. I recently spent 9 months on a backpacking trip around IndoChina. My only consistent companion throughout the journey was my precious little Nikon d60. We explored the world and I found a beauty in it I didn't think still existed. This photo series was taken while visiting a small village in Nepal. I met a guide trekking and after 2 weeks in the mountains together he invited me to visit his childhood village and family. I was one of the first foreigners to ever step into this valley and the warmth and excitement of these peaceful people can hardly be described in words, rather much better in photos. Throughout my journeys across the lost and less traveled world I have found that people do not appreciate the photographer anymore. They see a beautiful picture and they ask what camera you used and if it was Photoshopped. It is as if they do not realize that most of the shot is decided by what the photographer saw and how they chose to compose it at that moment. This scholarship would provide me with invaluable technical experience and allow me the opportunity to see what a life in National Geographic might be like. In the end I see my photographs as a means to freeze experiences and share them with my friends and I will always dream of a world where I could do this professionally.