Monday, March 24, 2008

How did we end up here?



First of all let me put you at ease. This isn't going to be a blog about Paul Dymond. Who the hell cares how many Weet-Bix I have for breakfast ( my 4 year old son Mirai has more!) or what I think about the price of fish. But for those who are just a little curious as to how I ended up doing what I am I thought I would go back a little in time.


I guess it all started here. Well not exactly at the Senso-ji Shrine in Asakusa, Tokyo, but in Japan nonetheless. At the tender age of 17, after having studied Japanese for 2 years I found myself living for a year in Kobe as an exchange student. This was my first taste of solo travel abroad and I was hooked but language study took a front seat for a while. After returning to Australia I continued with my study of Japanese and went on to do a double degree at university in Japanese and Korean with a minor in Japanese studies and general lack of direction.


AFRICA GETS IN THE WAY


After finishing my degree I was supposed to go on and do a Masters in Interpreting and Translating but I ended up flitting off to Africa for 9 months or so - as you do! The Sahara Desert, the jungles of Zaire, the game parks of East and Southern Africa, the heights of Mt Kilimanjaro. Somehow I just knew I wasn't going back to do post-grad. 140 rolls of Kodachrome slide film in the backpack and I was on a new journey.


So here I am - 55 countries later. The Kodachrome has given way to digital pixels, the backpack to a suitcase with wheels but the passion for travel and photography is as strong as ever. And that's what this blog is about - the passion.


Every entry I will post one of my favourite photos and talk a little about the technique, a little about the feeling behind the image and a little about the subject itself. Hopefully these posts will be helpful, enlightening and ignite in you the same passions to see the world and photograph it so that others may travel through your pictures.

8 comments:

LT Konishi said...

Sounds great! I'm looking forward to more of you anectdotes!

ewster said...

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your photos on the blog, an learning a few things about how much you get done in between fatherhood and travel!

Unknown said...

Thanks guys. I'm really looking forward to it too. As far balancing fatherhood and travel - a continuously evolving act. :)

Margaret said...

Since doing the 2 day course last year I have spent many wonderful hours taking many photos, I'm looking forward to more inspiration from the blog. Many thanks.

Dell said...

What a wonderful idea Paul, and a great learing tool for photographers. Look foward to the next posting

angus said...

Great idea Paul. I'm not sure if this is the place to do this but how about also introducing us to any new innovations in the world of travel photography equipment, whether it be some clever camera or new type of tripod. Travel photography is my passion (not for publishing, just digital slide shows) and anything that helps me take better pics would be of great interest to me.
Looking forward to more of your images and stories.

Unknown said...

Thankyou for the kind comments everybody. I hope to live up to expectations! And Angus, I will definitely try and throw in some tech tips and new gadgets along the way although I gotta say one of the best things about photography is that the basic principles haven't changed in a coupla hundred years! :)

marga said...

Hi there, a friend just forwarded me this blog.
What a great idea, a local photography site!
Looking forward to more inspirational entries.