Satellite Eyes

Nyepi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:04:00 +0000

This time last week, downtown Ubud was taken over by giant papier mâché demons in celebration of Balinese New Year, called Nyepi.

Portraits of a Laos Village

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:39:00 +0000

During my month in Laos I spent some time up in the mountains north of Luang Prabang, and I was lucky enough to visit some rather remote village communities populated by families from the Hmong and Khmu minority groups. We had a blast hanging out with the local kids, playing games with them, and visiting their schools.

Hoi An

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:18:00 +0000

In the second week of January my brother and I made our way out of Cambodia and across the border to Vietnam. We spent a few days in Saigon with a friend of mine who lived in town, and enjoyed getting the local perspective in a way we would've struggled to discover on our own. But we soon moved on, David returning to America and I traveling north on the night train.

I spent a week on my own in Hoi An, just relaxing, keeping mostly to myself, and making plans for the year ahead. I rented a bike and every day rode around town or out through the country side, wandering wherever I pleased and taking hundreds of photos. Here's a sample of what I saw.

Indie Travel Manifesto

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:08:00 +0000

Indie Travel Manifesto by BootsnAll & Rolf Potts

Boarding Pass

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:35:00 +0000

I'm so excited to have been featured on one of my favorite blogs, Prêt à Voyager. It's a fascinating and beautifully curated travel and design blog run by fellow Baltimorean abroad Anne Ditmeyer. Check out the rest of her excellent Boarding Pass series, it will suck you in!

Vietnam First Look

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:10:00 +0000

On the street, Saigon
Here's one of my first shots from Vietnam, in Saigon. This shot really sums up my feelings about crossing the street in this city. It's almost a transcendental experience. You have to set aside your fear and your desire to make a run for it, calmly step into the road, and slowly make your way across with unwavering speed and determination. And the motorbikes flow around you and reform their pattern, like a river. There's something elegant about it, so long as you don't get hit.

Traveling up the coast on the Reunification Express; the trip did not disappoint
I'll be posting many shots from my time in Vietnam soon, keep an eye out.

2011 Portfolios: Personal

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:40:00 +0000

Putu Darma Yanti, First Bubbles
The beautiful moments, average and exceptional alike, captured last year during my everyday life.

Seaside

Made, Breathing Under Water

Ketut, Making Breakfast Before the Ceremony

Wayan and His Nephew

Shark Tank

Students At Prayer

Evil Intentions

After the Wedding

The Bride

Bali Skies

The Day Before the Lotus Bloomed

Cat Nap

2011 Portfolios: Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Offerings - Ubud Kaja, Bali
My favorite shots from the times I went out exploring in 2011.

Macaque - Ubud, Bali

Mt. Agung - Ubud Kaja, Bali

Before the Cockfight - Bali

Nyepi Eve - Ubud, Bali

Afternoon Light - Siem Reap, Cambodia

The Fountain of Youth - Bedulu, Bali

Ogah-Ogah - Ubud, Bali

Between the Clouds - Singapore

Early Angkor Morning - Angkor, Cambodia

Petronas Towers - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

At Prayer - Angkor, Cambodia

On the Street - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2011 Portfolios: Editorial

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:20:00 +0000

Wake to Dream
I only had the chance to do a handful of projects in 2011, but I'm looking forward to doing much more editorial, commercial, and client work in the coming year. Get in touch if you'd like to work with me in 2012!

Wake to Dream

We Held the Summer In Our Hearts

Elsewhere in Cambodia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:51:00 +0000

After seeing the temples at Angkor, we did a quick trip through the major spots in Cambodia. There was sleepy Siem Reap, dirty and bustling Phnom Penh, and the profoundly laid back beaches of Sihanoukville. There was so much more to the country that I didn't get to see, and I'm looking forward to spending more time exploring Cambodia one day.

Angkor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:55:00 +0000

Angkor Wat, shortly after sunrise.
I started off my backpacking trip in Cambodia, paying a visit to the temple complexes of Angkor. There is simply no place like this on earth. The history, architecture, and beauty of the temples is endlessly fascinating, and the sheer scale of it all is incredible.




`The serene stone faces of Bayon.`

`Ruins of Ta Prohm`	`Hiking up to Kbal Spean`

`Banteay Srei`	`View from the top of Bakong`
`Worshippers at Angkor Wat`

The Great Railway Bazaar

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:44:00 +0000

Here's a peek at my recent travels, my first shot from Cambodia.
After months of flitting between Bali and nearby southeast Asian cities, I'm finally on a proper southeast Asia jaunt, backpack over one shoulder and camera over the other. Since Christmas I've been traveling around Cambodia with my brother. Now he's on his way back to America and I'm in Saigon. Tomorrow I head north on the night train, making my way to Hoi An.

I try to keep my travel expectations low to non-existant to avoid unrealistic disappointment, but the notion of riding the night train across a foreign land holds an unshakeable romanticism. After reading Paul Theroux's account of his voyage on this train, I have no chance of reigning in my imagination.

_{"'No one knows it,' said Cobra Two. No one in the States has the slightest idea how beautiful it is. Look at that -- God, look at that!'}

_{We were at the fringes of a bay that was green and sparkling in bright sunlight. Beyond the leaping jade plates of the sea was an overhang of cliffs and the sight of a valley so large it contained sun, smoke, rain and cloud -- all at once -- independent quantities of colour. I had been unprepared for this beauty; it surprised and humbled me in the same degree the emptiness had in India. Who has mentioned the simple fact that the heights of Vietnam are places of unimaginable grandeur? Though we can hardly blame a frightened draftee for not noticing this magnificence, we should have known all along that the French would not have colonized it, nor would the Americans have fought so long, if such ripeness did not invite the eye to take it."}
_{- Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar
via Travelfish}

Leaving Bali

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:51:00 +0000

The last photo I shot in Bali, of the Negari rice fields and the mountains after the rain.
My time working and living in Bali has come to an end, at least for the time being. I hope to call the island home again someday, but it's time for me to take my adventures elsewhere. Both the near and distant future are unknown to me, but for now I'm going with the flow and taking everything as it comes.

Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:39:00 +0000

A Balinese offering
Tonight my brother arrives in Bali to spend a couple weeks with me, and I couldn't be more excited to see him and grateful to have family close for the holidays. The last year of my life has been simply astounding, and has brought me so many new and profound experiences I never could've imagined. I'm endlessly grateful for what I have and proud of what I've accomplished. Here's to an incredible year, and an off-the-charts spectacular 2012.

Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:25:00 +0000

Cityscape from the top of Marina Bay Sands. We had to sneak in.
I recently spent a weekend in Singapore, eating all sorts of delicious new foods and spending an inordinate amount of time ducking into shopping malls to dodge rainstorms. Singapore and Bali could not be more different, but Singapore's orderliness and luxury was a welcome change for just a couple days.

Singapore's powerful economy in action.

At the Louis Vuitton flagship store

Preparing ramen

Guerilla Poetry

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:01:00 +0000

I hope to come across Robert Montgomery's provocative street poetry some day. What's beautiful in photos would be staggering in person.

Go Everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:57:00 +0000

One amazing photo is all it takes to put a new destination on my must visit list. This photo is what first got me seriously thinking about coming to Bali, and today I call the island home. Now whenever I see a photo that makes me want to jump on a plane, I carefully file it away in my head and on my hard drive. These are some current favorites.

`Amalfi Coast, Italy`	`Oahu, Hawaii`
`Skógafoss, Iceland`	`Prambanan, Indonesia`
`Meteora, Greece`	`Yangshuo, China`
`Kauai, Hawaii`	`Phang-Nga Bay, Thailand`

Sources available on Pinterest.

Cosmos

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:26:00 +0000

_{In an oscillating universe, the Cosmos has no beginning and no end, and we are in the midst of an infinite cycle of cosmic deaths and rebirths. If the universe truly oscillates, still stranger questions arise. Some scientists think that when expansion is followed by contraction, causality will be inverted and effects will precede causes. First the ripples spread from a point on the water's surface, then I throw the stone into the pond. First the torch bursts into flame and then I light it. We cannot pretend to understand what such causality inversion means. Will people at such a time be born in the grave and die in the womb? Will time flow backwards?}
_{- Carl Sagan, Cosmos}

I've been reading Carl Sagan while (impatiently) waiting to borrow 1Q84 from a friend. I thought this passage was lovely. Reading it immediately evoked moments from the past I'd love to live again in reverse.

Pura Tirta Empul

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:29:00 +0000

Saturday in Bali was a holy day for the goddess Saraswati. She is the goddess of knowledge, so all the students went to the temple to pray on Saturday. According to the Balinese, the energy manifested by praying can become either good or bad energy, so it is important to cleanse your spirit the next day, so that the energy from praying is manifested in a pure spirit. Even though I didn't make it to the temple on Saturday, I accompanied my friend to Pura Tirta Empul, the temple of the sacred spring, on Sunday for some ritualistic cleansing.


`The sacred spring.`
`Water is fed from the spring to pools below, where worshippers bathe and pray.`

`Visitors move down the line, saying a prayer or making an offering at each fountain.`

Conformations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:27:00 +0000

I love seeing photographs creatively combined with another unusual medium. Shaun Kardinal's "Conformations" series features oversized postcards with beautiful geometric embroidery on top.

Infra Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:11:00 +0000

The people and landscapes of the Congo shot on infrared film, from the Infra Africa series by Richard Mosse.

Kuala Lumpur

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:45:00 +0000

Recently I spent a weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I wasn't expecting much but in the end I loved the city. I spent hours wandering with little agenda, through massive shopping malls or back alleys of Chinatown. I was drawn in by its pull between old Malaysia and modern metropolis, the way it was covered in chrome and mold, Starbucks and coconut husks.