DISCOVERING MY PATH
PART ONE
My plane landed in the dead of night, which meant my eager eyes would have to wait until morning to see the new world I had just arrived in. As I stepped out of the airport into Bangkok’s balmy air, I was anything but a “photographer”. I was just a 20-something-year-old excited to be on international soil for the first time. Never would I have predicted that a six-month journey through Southeast Asia would awaken a passion that would guide the rest of my life.
PICKING UP THE CAMERA
It was only two or three days into my travels before I was overwhelmed by the itch to capture everything I was seeing. The change in scenery had given me fresh eyes for the world. I wanted to remember every second of my trip and have a way to show family and friends back home what I had experienced.
I made my way to a camera store and bought a used Nikon 35mm, a couple of lenses, and a lot of film. A high school photography class was the only real experience I’d had with a camera and I quickly realized that I had forgotten nearly everything I had learned.
There were no English photography books in Thailand, so I asked my dad to send me a book that would help me with some of the technical aspects of the camera. It arrived and was waiting for me at a post office in Nepal when I made my way there a few weeks later.
THE MONK
Soon after that, I was visiting a temple in Kathmandu when a beautiful monk caught my eye. I knew immediately that I wanted to capture an image of him but felt shy and nervous. Luckily, I had a longer lens so I could take the picture from a bit of a distance.
I watched him move through the courtyard, waiting for the ideal moment. Finally, the scene fell into place and I raised my camera and shot one frame.
Right as the shutter opened, he looked toward me -- his gaze piercing through the camera and into my heart. I felt struck.
Lowering my camera I sheepishly raised my shoulders, asking through body language, “Was that okay?”. He gave me a slight nod of approval and I smiled. I had only captured one frame but I suspected I had a powerful image in my camera. Months later, when I was finally able to develop the film, I was not disappointed.
To this day, I consider the exchange with The Monk to be the beginning of my photographic path. Locking eyes with that monk was the first time a camera had allowed me to connect so thoroughly with a stranger, place, and instance. In the past, I had wondered if photography sometimes made me miss moments - but here it was creating one.
I remember feeling invigorated as I walked out of that temple, and strangely emotional. Not long after, I was moved again by photography - this time as an audience to someone else’s work.
THE SLIDESHOW
There was a European photographer living in Nepal who ran an adventure tour company. Part of their advertising was a slideshow they showed each evening to interested vagabonds and trekkers.
I went one night and was unexpectedly touched by the images in the slideshow. Pictures of stunning Himalayan landscapes and beautiful Nepalese mountain people faded from one to the next, accompanied by evocative music (I distinctly remember U2 and Pearl Jam were involved). By the end of the presentation, I was covered in goosebumps and on the verge of tears. I even came back a second night just to watch it again.
The monk and the slideshow helped me realize that photography is powerful on a multitude of levels. It is capable of evoking strong emotions both in the process of capturing an image and in viewing it. I understood then that it could be a tool for bridging understanding, healing wounds or transporting people to new worlds.
I had always known that I wanted to dedicate myself to a career I was passionate about, but I had yet to find a life-path that fulfilled those desires. Then, in a single week, it all clicked. Here was a worthy pursuit. An art form that could mean something to me and to the people who shared in my photographs.
I felt like a part of myself had been awakened that I couldn’t shut off. I wanted to be a photographer. I was ready to spend my life behind a lens.
