will-o'-the-wisp

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

Philippines | Friday, July 5, 2013 | 5 photos

My name is Ylana Harel. Travel has always been an integral part of my life. Indeed, if my life was a crucifix, its trinity would consist of love, curiosity and travel. And yet I have not had to actually 'go someplace else' to travel. The simple act of my being born was an act of travel. Let me explain: my father is Israeli and my mother, Filipina. My family and I grew up immersed in an expatriate Jewish community in Manila, Philippines, and my upbringing also consisted of immersion in an American-ish international school filled with kids from all over the world. Later on, my mother's influence brought in a Catholic education. And then I picked up a camera, simply as a hobby to capture scenes from our family parties. And later on, I studied it more formally through an organization I joined in Toronto, Canada, where I discovered a passion to not only observe life passing before me, but also, a desperate hunger to capture it, to share it through images with you. Being chosen as an apprentice for Nat Geo would give me the push and technical skills I need to pursue this passion professionally.