Taking a moment to look back, reflect, and remember why I was so dang busy!

I love looking back at a six month period and remembering what I’ve been doing as a photographer and where it has taken me. We always tend to be so busy on the current project or thinking about what we have to do next that we often times forget to look back and see where we have been the last 6 months or even a year. Since I turned the ripe ol’ age of 28 about a month ago and since I celebrated my 3rd wedding anniversary this week, I thought now would be a good time to take a look back. Hope you guys enjoy

I’m surprised at how much I’ve done. How often do you look back?

In the last six months:

I have worked more as a web designer than I really want to – a trend that continues.

I have worked on staff for an NGO doing earthquake relief, photography, and design

I have had several very close friends die

I have had way more conversations with my drunk dry cleaner than I wanted

I have broken one Chinese-made bed.

I have consistently been 4 times the size of an average Chinese dude.

I have witnessed the most annoying sandstorms on earth – and eaten sand.

I have frozen my butt of – more than once. I am butt-less.

I have eaten more noodles than…you.

I have been married to my wife for three freak’n awesome years

I have been to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Narnia

I have travelled by cab, boat, plane, ferry, train, motorcycle, subway, and scooter

I have taken two extended trips into remote Tibetan areas

I have shot three ethnic weddings in less than a month

I have spoken 3 languages that are no my own

I have been above 16,000 feet

I have discovered that Russians like to be naked at beaches in Thailand

I have broken or bruised at least one rib and bleed more than desired

I have been amazed at how fast nomads can learn photography

I have taken close to 15,000 frames

I have spent significant time in temples, mosques, and monasteries – and KFC

I have photographed 12 individual ethnic groups and distinct cultures

I have had serious altitude sickness

I have tried unsuccessfully to purchase, order, or recreate a white seamless setup on the plateau

I have had to cancel two Lumen Dei tours

I have done a lot more than I thought

Alot can happen in six months. Check out my last 6 months in black and white after the break

The Faces of Relief

A photographers reaction to disaster

Before I jump into this post, I would encourage you to do what you can for the suffering in Yushu. The quakes there left close to 100,000 people homeless. The very little that they once had is now gone. For more information or for how to give directly to those providing relief, please visit Yushu Earthquake Relief.

The last three weeks have undoubtedly been the hardest three weeks of my life.

On April 14th at 7am my wife woke me up with the news that there had been a series of powerful earthquakes in and around Yushu, a town 500+ miles southwest of where we live and work. An earthquake in this area is significant. Not only was my Plateau Photo Tours partner living in Yushu at the time, but most of our friends, co-workers, and employees are from this area – not to mention we had two Lumen Dei tours with David duChemin and Matt Brandon planned to this area this summer.

Instead of preparing for Lumen Dei trips, I found myself back at our NGO’s office coordinating medical supplies and teams to enter into the earthquake area as well as utilizing my skills in a past life as a web designer. My camera was no where in site for good reasons: 1.) 6′5″ bearded foreign photographers were not allowed into the quake area and 2.) there was no way I would be able to photograph something so personal for quite a while.

As a photography working closely for and with NGO’s as well as coordinating tour’s to the plateau, I very well know the power of an image to raise awareness for a cause – but this is China. In this part of the world you can’t just show up and expect the red carpet treatment. In fact, you can’t just show up and expect to be allowed to even participate in relief work. You have to have permission for three different levels of government, signed and stamped letters to pass checkpoints, verbal governmental approval while en-route to the quake zone, etc. (Luckily I work for the ONLY foreign NGO invited into the quake area by the provincial government to participate in medical relief work.)

Nonetheless, as a photographer, how do you respond to something like this?

Within the first 5 hours after the earthquake, my ideas of what a hero looked like started to change drastically. I, with no small amount of difficulty, saw pictures on the news of destroyed restaurants where I had enjoyed butter tea with close friends less than two months earlier. I saw pictures on the internet of my friends homes in ruin (literally). I saw a place that I have covered photographically in one form or another for almost 8 years in absolute ruin.

To make a very long story short** – I decided to do a photo series of those around me doing direct relief work – my new heros. These are people who spent the first 72 hours after the quake wide awake, people who travelled 600+ miles over 16,000+ foot passes in order to provide medical relief to those in need. These are people who saw patient after patient, sent truck after truck, or spent hours on the phone all for continued success of the relief work in Yushu. These are people who have put life on hold for the last two weeks and have slept far too little – just to provide what relief that can to the suffering in Yushu.

These are heros. These are the Faces of Relief. Read more after the jump

Six months in Black and White

The Faces of Relief