The first time I held a camera I was 14 years old and I got three clicks during photography class. I remember that moment. We used a Canon QL camera and took pictures of my friend standing on a school gate.
I taught myself photography by reading books, asking friends, and practicing, practicing, practicing.
When I started out, I was freelancer and a new magazine asked me to cover a funeral ceremony on a Bali resort island. I knew I wouldn’t get paid much, but I took the opportunity and paid half the budget from my own pocket. After the story was done and printed in the magazine, I knew this was the kind of job that I wanted.
Covering the Asian tsunami in 2004 left the biggest mark on me. It was the biggest disaster I had ever covered, and the mass destruction in Banda Aceh made me sick to my soul. There were so many sad stories there, and years later they make me cry when I’m alone. I worked jointly with humanitarian aid organisations to help people and to minimise my feelings of guilt.
I am excited by almost all my assignments, but most of all by assignments covering disasters, because they’re related to humanity.
When I was shot in the leg during the East Timor conflict in 1999, I realised safety is more important than pictures.
The people I admire the most are the ones who live in conflict zones and disaster areas. Even though they have limited facilities, they survived. They are strong human beings.
