Lets Get Lost Together

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Monday, September 5, 2011 | 4 photos

I'm a final year Bachelor of Journalism student who one day hopes to become a photojournalist. The driving force behind my photography is my passion to capture the world just as it is: the beautiful, the ugly, the hope, the grief, the joy, the desire. One day I saw a stunning picture of the Eiffel Tower during a thunderstorm. I couldn't get the picture out of my mind and decided I had to go and see this amazing place. Having never stepped out of my home town before, I decided to go on a solo trip backpacking around Europe in 2010 and it sparked something inside me - I've been travelling ever since.

The inspiration behind my photography is the overwhelming feeling of knowing there is an entire world out there waiting to be discovered and explored. Some people spend their entire lifetime in one city, missing out on the thousands of vibrant cultures the rest of the world has to offer. I don't want to be one of those people.

From this experience, I hope to gain insight into the South African culture and portray this in my photographs. I believe photographs are more than a moment in time; they are the culmination of an entire story, an entire race, religion, species.

I love story-telling through photographs and the series of photos I have taken show New Caledonia and Vanuatu post cyclone Vania in January 2011. While there was an overwhelming amount of destruction what was even more overwhelming was seeing people go about their daily lives, just as they always have. Not complaining, not giving up, just getting on with it.

I hope these photographs spark something inside other people and inspire them to travel, just like the photograph of the Eiffel Tower inspired me.