adventures abroad

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Wednesday, October 13, 2010 | flickr photos

Dear Mr. Edwards,

I am awed and inspired by your work with National Geographic and would be honored to go to Bhutan, the edge of the world, to learn from one of the best! I’m a 4th year photography student with OCAD University in Toronto, Canada and I’m currently on an exchange program in Florence, Italy for the year. Travel photography and working for National Geographic are my absolute goals in life. The photos enclosed for this scholarship are from a hiking trip I did a few weeks ago while visiting Cinque Terre, a collection of five villages nestled along the Ligurian Sea in northern Italy. While it was beautiful and charming, I found myself having a profound melancholia for the lapping waves and salty aromas of my hometown on the Atlantic Ocean. I guess growing up on the Atlantic has truly permeated and pervaded my soul, but this is the first time in memory that I’ve had such a strong reaction to water while traveling. It’s been 3 weeks since leaving and I can still feel the waves lapping at my heart.

Only mountains seem to rival my love of oceans. I’ve trekked many places around the globe, but navigating the Himalayas with their formidable monstrosities has always had the most enchanting allure. Since reading Eric Weiner’s “The Geography of Bliss” a few years ago, I’ve had an overwhelming desire to visit Bhutan, the happiest and remotest place on earth…the last Shangri-la, where life quietly unfolds amid the unspoiled landscape. I’m intrigued by how a government can cultivate the elusive state of happiness in the hearts and minds of its people. Given this unique opportunity, I hope to capture Bhutan’s essence with beauty and grace, and perhaps even gain access to her secrets of happiness.

I await to be molded and mentored.

Sincerely,

Tammy MacKenzie