Tri's Travels

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Tuesday, November 8, 2011 | flickr photos

These 5 photos were taken while I visited my parents in Phnom Penh this past summer. I have been there twice before but this was the first time I’ve had a camera with me. Walking through a tour at the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum was very emotional and I wanted to capture the sadness of the place. I've turned them into black and white to remove the colors so the viewers could focus on what is actually in each of the photos.

This May, I graduated with a degree in microbiology from Miami University (Ohio) and I'm currently living in Chicago. I’ve developed my love for traveling and soccer since I was little but my love for photography came later when I had a chance to use my mom’s DSLR when we were living in Vietnam. I’ve been lucky to have traveled to many places due to my dad’s job. I’ve lived in Thailand, Myanmar, Washington D.C. and Vietnam. Leaving each country was always hard but the pictures taken at these places kept those memories alive.

I take my camera everywhere I go. For me new experiences and views evoke new ideas. I believe that going to South Africa would give me the opportunity to explore new photographic techniques while learning from and helping the photography crew. Plus, being around photographers would drive me to learn to act more like one.

I’m in a family of 5, and learning from one another was crucial for me since each of us sees things differently and have our own style of photography. Sharing my photos with others have also been rewarding. I want to show people what each place has to offer and how people live their lives there. It would be an honor to share my safari experiences with the world, and hopefully many more if I can prove to myself that I can be good enough to take this to the next step and make it my career.