Losing yourself one piece at a time: Asher Svidensky on how travel photography changes you

 

 

Travel photographer Asher Svidensky is focused on sharing stories from around the world. He doesn't like to use the language of "capturing" or "taking" photos but instead views photography as a language in and of itself. He recently shared his knowledge with DIY Photography, and the video is below.

Part of what allows Svidensky to witness, photograph and share the stories he wants to, he says,  is that when he is traveling, he lets "a part of himself" go and fills the empty space with the places and people he sees and meets during his travels. One of the challenges he's encountered is that if you're regularly traveling like he is, you can find it difficult to fit in back home because so much of who you are as a person has changed and "there is no place you belong."

If that sounds scary to you, it does to Asher as well. Is it worth it? He'll have to wait and see. And if you also travel a lot, so will you.

There are many stories out there that have yet to be widely shared, and for talented photographers like Asher to go out there and expose them to the world is of great value. But it's clearly also at some cost to Svidensky and others like him. I must admit that I hadn't thought much about the toll that constantly traveling could have on a photographer. I tend to see the beautiful images and just romanticize the job.

To see Asher Svidensky's excellent work, visit his website. You can view more videos from him here. To see a talk Asher gave about photography and its role in society, check out this article.

(Seen via DIY Photography)