Travel Photography
Bangkok Photo Journal #2
More Travel Photography
Road to Somewhere | Northern Ethiopia
Somewhere Above Ethiopia
I have a fear of flying and will do almost anything to make air transit emotionally bearable. I pack an extra shirt in my carry-on just in case I nervously sweat through the one on my back. I have plenty of peaceful music downloaded on my phone. I keep a special amulet or two in my pocket even though I am not religious or superstitious. I also hold a stash of “airplane candy” just in case. Short of having a service animal registered, I do all that I can to soothe my fears.
After boarding, I try not to look at other passengers, be over-stimulated by the romcoms playing on screens, or get too fixated on my pre-determined escape plan should the aircraft take a plunge (I honestly make an overly detailed action plan before each flight takes off. It’s ridiculous).
My greatest flight comfort is a window seat. If possible, I pay the additional fee to pre-select my seat or, at the very least, beg for one at the check-in counter. I prefer to be near a wing where, in my phobic-mind, the plane is most stable and where an exit row is usually nearby. Oddly, window seats make me feel less claustrophobic and I covet the tiny area of space between my seat and the convex edge of the plane. Those extra square inches make me feel that I have some sort of protective bubble around me.
Without a doubt, the best part about a window seat is the chance to view the landscapes far below, gaze at giant cumulonimbus clouds, or peer at stars that seem so much closer from 32,000 feet. The natural world, an arms-length away, is my soothing, constant in-flight entertainment.
After a ten-hour red-eye flight from Bangkok and a quick layover in Addis Ababa, I was glad to finally be on a domestic flight heading north towards Lalibela. The sun was up I could have my first real glimpse of Ethiopia.
From cruising altitude, it wasn’t possible to get any sort of perspective of Ethiopian culture (other than noticing the agrarian nature of the countryside). But that didn’t matter. I was able to recognize, at least from above, that I was already in love with Ethiopia.
For the duration of the short flight, I didn’t have any fear of flying. I didn’t sweat through my shirt or pull out the prayer beads from my pocket. Instead, I sat in awe of the expansive landscape and was again grateful for a window seat.
More Travel Photography
Butter Lamps, McLeod Ganj (2006)
Photo Flashback | McLeod Ganj, India
I woke well before the sun and scaled the infamous stairs leading to Jogiwara Road. I was careful to stay in the middle of the seemingly never-ending climb. The nettles were plentiful and encroached on the uneven staircase. The darkness and my sandals were the worst possible combination for the climb.
I crept uphill through the languid town towards the bus stand, McLeod Ganj’s main intersection. I greeted a gentleman with leprosy and then veered left with other shadowy figures. Most of us moved swiftly down Temple Road to the Tsuglagkhang, attempting to be on time for the 5:00 a.m. prayer service.
I passed the sleepy guards outside of the Photang, the Dalai Lama's residence. It was an odd feeling knowing that His Holiness, just returned from a lecture series abroad, was a stone’s throw away.
I made it to the complex by 4:45 a.m. and entered one of the world’s most renowned religious centers. Hundreds of pilgrims were already gathered at the temple, processing clockwise with prayer beads in hand or bending into supplicating postures. I meandered through the corridors and noticed a glint of light coming from one of the interior prayer rooms. There, elderly monks lit butter lamps, sending out their cosmic energy for those who could afford to have the prayers made. The scene was mesmerizing.
I purchased a lamp and asked the elder for a specific prayer request. As the monk turned to light my lamp, I casually snapped a photo. Now, over a decade later, I can’t remember what I petitioned the holy man to pray for. Perhaps the universe received his mantras. Perhaps not. Either way, I am glad I have a grainy image of that tiny moment in time.
About the Image
Date: March 2006
Film: Ilford 400 Black and White
The film roll was processed a few days later in McLeod Ganj, India. A blue and yellow sign above the developer’s kiosk simply stated, “STD and Photo.” At the time, a photo-developing-pay-phone-center seemed like just the place to have my film developed.
I remember getting the photos back a few days later and being enamored with this particular shot. Out of the hundreds of photos I made on my first trip to India, this image sticks out in my mind. It was the first photograph I had ever made that I was visually happy with. Now, in hindsight, I realize that Butter Lamps served as a catalyst for my career as a travel editorial photographer.
