My first memory of photography is taking photographs in a park close to my house after a huge storm. It was my first roll of black-and-white film. I developed it in a makeshift darkroom at my school. I left my film to dry, and returned to find that some older students had thrown it away.
My mother taught me to use her 35mm film camera. I taught myself digital photography while studying in Indonesia and travelling in Africa. After university, I attended the International Center of Photography’s documentary and photojournalism program.
A month after graduating from the photojournalism course, I went to live in Port Sudan, Sudan. I was living in a one-room apartment with two of my friends. I had been waiting for weeks to get a travel permit from Khartoum and had become sick. A website asked me to take photos for an environmental story on the banning of plastic bags. For the first time, I thought that maybe I could make this photography thing work.
Last spring, I had the opportunity to travel into the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, Sudan with the Sudanese rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army - North (SPLA-N). I have always held a special place in my heart for the Sudanese people because of their dignity, hospitality, and humour. I was struck by the intense amount of suffering that the Sudanese government continues to inflict upon its own people throughout Sudan.
I like to be able to take the time to be enveloped in the story as much as possible and to feel that I am part of a struggle, even for a brief moment.
Working in South Sudan is isolating, but it can also be exciting to photograph events that may not otherwise be documented.
There’s always a hope in my mind that a photograph will spark a thought, realisation, or action that could help to change a situation for the better.
My biggest lesson? Humour and patience go a long way.
I respect the people I’ve met in South Sudan who have been through so much suffering, yet still have the desire and motivation to make productive changes.
