Travel Photography Scholarship 2011 Entry

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Sunday, November 6, 2011 | 5 photos

From a young age, traveling was of interest to me. As I’ve grown older, traveling has grown into the primary passion in my life. I want to know the world in all its forms and moods.

Volunteering abroad is my favorite method of experience; photography and writing are the lenses through which I interpret my experiences as well as the formats in which I share what I’ve witnessed with others. It requires a fair investment of time for someone to read an entire essay; photography, on the other hand, is much more accessible to the general public. It’s like writing “flash” essays; it’s the most succinct form of communication, telling a whole story, wordless, within one frame. This is what creates the drive for an ever-better shot…. to try to give the viewer the most relevant and accurate representation as is possible in the space of a glimpse.

The pictures I’ve presented with my entry come from time I spent as a volunteer collecting ethnographic information about a tiny peasant village in northern China.

I could say I’m a self-taught photographer because I haven’t taken classes. However, this isn’t quite true because I have always solicited the advice and critique of others whose work I respect. I’d like to increase my range of photographic knowledge and skill, to become a well-rounded photographer who can compose a shot in any situation with any subject matter, be it landscape, architecture, wildlife, or people. The field in which I have the least experience is wildlife photography, so this would be a valuable opportunity. I’ll continue traveling and photographing with or without this scholarship, but with it, not only will more doors open for me, but I can open more doors for others to see the unique things I see.