Look Up!!

Do you ever get that feeling you're being stared at? You know the one... when you have a giant tri-pod draped over your shoulder with some foreign looking device attached to it, while walking in a village where the word 'technology' seems like it is still coming into fruition?

I get that feeling a lot. It's interesting to see people's reactions. Some are incredibly interested. Some could care less. But they all seem to stare.

This job is fun because I get to meet all kinds of people. It encourages me to walk blindly into places I normally wouldn't. Earlier this year, I was asked how I go about designing my timeline once I arrive in a new country. This made me laugh. It dawned on me that I have never done this. In fact, to be quite honest, I am often quite ignorant of the possibilities a country has to offer before stepping foot on it's soil. But it makes traveling fun, when you don't know what you are going to do or where you will be in 2 days or 2 hours.

I really grasped this mindset this year... Floated with the wind, you might say. But it made it fun, and 'most' days quite interesting. I think it is common knowledge that if one plans everything out before hand, it's easy to forget to look up from the schedule to the exciting things that lay right next to you.

Back Back, to Kashmir Kashmir

This past year was full of randomness. Without getting too far into the details, (don't want to spoil any future blog posts!) I did manage to go back to Kashmir again. After going last year to shoot a documentary called Azadi-Freedom (click here for trailer,) I was keen to get back there after word that a helicopter had finally been brought in.

Kashmir is one of those places that grows on you instantly. It is almost unexplainable how the sites, smells, and sounds just grab a hold of you and won't let go. Going back felt like going home. It was great to see friendly faces that I had gotten to know a winter before. On top of that, our film had been well received by the locals and visitors alike. A refreshing note was that I was meeting people that had gone to Kashmir for the first time only because they had seen the film. That was a very humbling feeling.

While in Gulmarg, I helped out on 2 webisodes produced by Jase Hancox. (See more of his stuff here.) He was hired by Gulmarg Heli Ski to produce 4 webisodes as weekly updates for the first year of operation.

These are 2 that I helped on:

Pathetic

It took me forever to be convinced to write my first blog back in December of 2010, and almost as long again for my sophomore follow up. If I am honest, I feel weird about writing blogs. I have always felt lucky to have the experiences that traveling and photography have brought me, but never really felt comfortable sharing those experiences with the world.

I now look back and think, "Why not?" Why not share stories with a broader audience? If I can convince one more person to look around the corner, to exit their 'bubble,' is it not worth it? So that is what I am going to do here. My head is normally in the clouds and I don't set aside a lot of time for writing things like this, but my promise to you is to update with random pictures as often as possible with a little blurb about what/when/why/where the photo was taken.

Enjoy if you have time. Constructive criticism or just flat out criticism is always welcome!

In order to move forward into this new endeavor, I have decided to show a you photo of my 'home' for 3 months of the year. Introducing the FV Coventina, a commercial fishing vessel based out of Valdez, Alaska. I first started working on this boat in the summer of 2007 and have had the privilege to enjoy every summer since working, eating, and sleeping on it.

Working on this boat has provided me a life-style that I am whole-heartedly passionate about. I work hard for those summer months; putting in long hours, enduring stormy weather, and eating lot's of fish with rice or potatoes, so that the remainder of the year can be spent exploring this incredible earth. In the forth-coming blogs I hope to share photos of these off season adventures.

Fishing in Egypt

Hello All,

Wow, it's been a long time coming. I am finally on to the blog thing. There has been so much happening the last few months, I have decided to keep you updated...

I have just arrived in Sri Lanka after spending the last month and a bit in Egypt. Time seemed to fly by there so quickly. I guess it does that when you're having fun, eh? It was absolutely fascinating to see the contrasts within the country itself.

I spent the majority of my time in Cairo and Alexandria, but did all the fishing out of a small fishing village called Bruolos up north where the Nile meets the Mediterranean. There, we were fishing on small sail boats called Faluccas. Behind these, smaller boats called Marcabs were towed for use once the Faluccas were far enough out where the fishing was good. It was brilliant to be on a boat where all you hear is the flapping of the sails and the laughter the fisherman's nephews who also worked aboard the boat.

The fish that were caught seemed to be too small to eat, but oh was I wrong. A lot of the perks of this film have come from the dinner table. After spending the afternoons selling fish from the roadside, we would pack up what was left and head for home where the fire was lit and the fish were fried/boiled/barbecued/broiled/etc. Delicious doesn't begin to explain.

It was interesting to see Ali, the fisherman I documented, in his home environment. There were 3 families under one roof: His immediate family consisting of his wife and daughter (Mai, whom the fishing boat was named after,) his sister's family consisting of husband and 3 children (2 of which worked on the boat with us,) and his brother's family who also had wife and two daughters. Ali seemed to be the center of attention in that house. When he arrived home the kids would surround him, asking him questions and waiting to be hugged. Ali and I would eat together in a separate room, away from the rest of the family, but the children were never too far away. Most of the time I could hear them giggling just outside the door.

After dinner we would go around the corner to the tea shop where I would order Turkish Coffee and Ali would order Shai and a sheesha. (Sheesha being a huka or water bong with very heavy tobacco.) We would sit and watch an Arabic film with other fisherman until the sun went down. The whole time I would get taps on my back from the locals who had come up with questions in broken English. I found that they weren't really looking for answers. They seemed content communicating in a language they had only heard from that little black and white screen that played in the cafe. "What time is it? Where you come from? You like Egypt?" they would ask through grinning teeth. When I answered, more often than not I would get blank stares. I think they were thinking of the next question and skipped the listening part of the conversation!

I won't spoil too much of the story on here, but will add some pictures and video occasionally. Feel free to stop by anytime and check in. I will do my best to update on a regular basis.

You can follow me on vimeo here.