Each different environment introduces its own challenges for the photographer, both in the way we use light and construct images and in how we manage to be in the right place at the right time. The light in a rainforest is very different from that of a desert dawn; each particular environment will present the photographer with unique opportunities and problems. But often the photography can seem the easy bit; just getting around and sustaining yourself can be the toughest task. But when it all comes together, like watching the pink rays of dawn kiss the peak of Annapurna as the shutter clicks open, there’s nothing better.
In the Footsteps of the Inca
By the cold light of dawn I encountered Marina, a young shepherdess, tending her flock alone on the pampas, high above the Sacred Valley. We chatted away, unhindered by our complete lack of a mutual language. My Spanish is weak, but it would have made no difference, for she is Quechua, a direct descendant of the Inca. It was one of those encounters that refresh the soul. Machu Picchu, Cusco, the soaring Andes; all of these make this a breathtaking experience, but for me, Marina is the face of Peru.
The Road to Zhongdian
How can you possibly sum up China, geographically huge and populously vast? Working there is challenging, at one moment exhilarating, the next depressing. But the menu for the photographer’s take-away is enticing: haunting, massive, varied landscapes, bustling streets, frantic markets, new-age cities and rustic villages; and peoples of a rich and varied culture, despite the years under a monolithic government. A few travel tips: don’t forget your thermals, take a bath plug and prepare to have all your preconceptions shattered.
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