Covering the UNDP IP Conference as an events photographer and videographer in Chiang Mai, Thailand

I was assigned as an events photographer and videographer to work on the UNDP Indigenous Persons Conference, which was actually 2 conferences, the YECAP Indigenous Fellows Training and the Youth CO:LAB Regional Dialogue on Indigenous Youth Social Entrepreneurship conference.

While a lot of the indigenous youth face pressure and uncertainty in their lives, both conferences were conducted with a genuine sense of collaboration and conviviality. I hope my photographs and videos do justice to this.

At the CO:LAB Conference, participants were mentored on entrepreneurship with people giving presentations through the final day. Young indigenous entrepreneurs presented their ideas to the group. It was great to see participants so eager to listen and to learn about how best to develop their ideas and their skills and to see how open everyone was to the constructive criticism and feedback that they received.

The YECAP Conference was conducted with a similarly convivial atmosphere. The participants learnt about some of the issues they face and the steps they can take to mitigate the impacts on their communities.

One of the highlights was the group project that looked at the issues indigenous youth across the Asia Pacific are facing. Groups worked together to explain the issues and look at the solution.

The final results where a collaborative drawing made up from contributions from each of the groups.

You can see other examples of my photography work here and other examples of my videography work here.

You can see a selection of the photos I took below:

In the field as an NGO photographer for the World Health Organisation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Below is a selection of photographs I took while on assignment as an NGO photographer and videographer for the World Health Organisation’s Western Pacific office.

The aim of the Cambodian content was to produce a series of photos and a 3-minute case study to highlight the work that WHO are doing on primary healthcare in Cambodia, with a particular focus on how the project activities have benefitted people working in the garment sector.

We travelled to Sok Voeun’s house in an area just outside Phnom Penh where a lot of garment factory workers live. Although it was a sensitive subject, Sok Voeun was understanding and patient and did a great job of allowing us to photograph throughout the day. We filmed and photographed her at home, in her neighbourhood, at the local health centre and at the factory she works at.

Sok Voeun was very happy with the help that she’d received as part of the WHO programme and truly feels that the medical advice and support she received saved her life.

You can see a selection of the photos I took below and other examples of my work as an NGO photographer here and here.

NGO Photographer in Siem Reap | On Assignment for Kiva

It was a great opportunity to work as a photographer and videographer with international NGO Kiva in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I spent two days photographing and filming a series of case studies about people who have taken out loans offered by Kiva to buy a cooking stove made by the social enterprise ACE. It was my first job through Storyhunter and will hopefully be the first of many.

The ACE stove is a great invention. It’s very efficient and within no time at all after turning the stove on and adding the biomass fuel there is a roaring fire that is hot enough to cook rice, stir fries and soups. The stove comes with a solar panel, so it perfect for people living off grid. It also has a USB port so it can be used to charge phones and other battery-powered electric devices and it’s smoke-less, so it’s a cheaper, quicker and healthier alternative to using charcoal which is commonly used in Cambodia.

It’s great to see how such a seemingly small thing can help improve people’s finances, save them time (if they collected fire wood) and contribute to improving their lives. The kind hospitality of the Khmer people is second-to-none. Everyone of the people we filmed and photographed invited us into their homes with open arms, were patient and had a good laugh. It really is one thing about Cambodia that makes the job easy, rewarding and fun.

Below are a selection of images from the couple of days I spent filming case studies and taking photos. You can see more examples of my work as an NGO photographer here and here.

Aerial Drone Photography of salt flats in Tamil Nadu, India

Looking back through the archives, I found some drone photography of the salt flats outside Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. I was lucky enough to get to travel there while working as a videographer for Wild Frontiers. I like the lines and the geometrical shapes of the salt flats when seen from above.

I often use the drone to shoot video and take photographs as a afterthought. I plan to spend more time looking at the creative possibilities and using drone to focus solely on aerial photography.

Photographs from the road, shooting with prime lenses

One of my favourite things to do in Cambodia is to cruise around the countryside on my ‘moto’ taking photographs. Here are a few snaps from the first couple of trips I’ve been on since arriving back in Cambodia.

Over the past few months, I’ve invested in several compact cine prime lenses to improve the production quality of my videos. In order to learn the capabilities of the lenses, I’ve started travelling with primes with the same effective focal length as the lenses I have for my cine camera, to learn the lenses and to get used to the creative possibilities of shooting with primes.