Mongolian Grasslands

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Friday, October 15, 2010 | 5 photos

Travel and photography are my two priorities and passions in life. I have been telling stories through the visual for the past two years since I completed my studies in photojournalism at the end of 2007. Through my travels I realised my most successful work was (and still is) fueled through the discoveries I make when traveling. Although I have acquired the appropriate technical skills and historical background from my studies, I am still very interested in the mentoring process and the invaluable experience this can be to, not only my personal development, but my creative development as well. The submitted photographs are from a 4 week journey through Inner Mongolia, not far from the town centre of Hailar. Hailar is the largest city of the Hulum Buir prefecture of Inner Mongolia's Northern region. During winter, it’s often described as a drab and colourless place, being a landmass that's mainly grassland and rural. Drops in temperature see greens turn to brown, and the frost exposes the prickly tips of the land. This was an environment where my eyes could scan an entire plain without focusing on a single building, an uncommon concept to the cluttered landscape of the China I'd experienced prior to this. In Hailar, I stayed with the family of a friend I'd met in Beijing. Being a heavily agricultural based society, mutton and milk became staple items in my dietary intake. Every morning the smell of the steam-filled kitchen would beckon me to the plump white dough (waiting to the kneaded), half-devoured shanks of mutton, and milk tea.