I have been travelling and taking photos for the last 30 years, much of it while working as a freelance aid consultant on UN and EU aid projects in Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. I took an early interest in both travel and photography and, after finishing school in Germany, went to the US to study business, followed by a yearlong course in documentary photography at the International Center of Photography in New York.
After a brief and disappointing stint in the world of corporate advertising, I decided, in the mid-80s, to follow the call of adventure, pack up the job and embark on a wild and wonderful 18-months trip across Asia, equipped with a small backpack, two old Nikons and lots of Kodachrome 64 film rolls.
Travelling across India and then China, which had just recently opened up its vast interiour to independent travellers, I was able to walk freely in the neighbourhoods, villages and fields off the beaten track, encountering people who were open and curious to meet a Westerner in their previously closed world. This was a brief time window only, because the Tiananmen protests, which happened shortly afterwards made many of these areas difficult to visit yet again. Deeply touched by the experience of both the beauty and the poverty of the communities I visited, I later decided to work in international development, a career I have been involved in ever since.
Several of the photos selected for an exhibition at the cornerHOUSE Art Centre in Tolworth, Surrey, were taken during this trip to Asia and others a few years later in Southern Africa, while working in the Kingdom of Lesotho on my first aid-related job with the UN and afterwards driving across Namibia and the Kalahari in search of the San Bushmen.
For many years, while being busy travelling and working elsewhere, these slide transparencies lay mothballed in boxes, almost forgotten until I found them again one day, selected the best ones and had them scanned into digital format.
Now, almost 30 years later, I am very pleased that these portraits, landscapes and street scenes see the light of day once more, remembering and honouring the encounters with wonderful people, some of whom have undoubtedly passed on in the meantime, now offering reminiscence of a moment in history just before the onslaught of globalization began to irrevocably change the face of those landscapes, towns and villages. Some of these places I had the chance to revisit during recent years. Many of them have now changed beyond recognition. Where once traditional Chinese courtyard residences stood and where many of the Chinese portraits were taken, faceless high-rise blocks have now taken their space and have totally changed the fabric of traditional community life. Many of these selected images are thus memories of an almost bygone era.
Current Events:
10 - 27 September 2013 - Photo exhibition Images of the Eighties: Travels in Africa and Asia at the cornerHOUSE Art Centre in Tolworth, Surrey (www.thecornerhouse.org). Gala night event on 17 September from 7-9pm.
01 - 22 November 2013 - follow up Photo exhibition Images of the Eighties: Travels in Africa and Asia at the The Press Room Coffee House in Surbiton, Surrey (pressroomcoffee.co.uk).
After a brief and disappointing stint in the world of corporate advertising, I decided, in the mid-80s, to follow the call of adventure, pack up the job and embark on a wild and wonderful 18-months trip across Asia, equipped with a small backpack, two old Nikons and lots of Kodachrome 64 film rolls.
Travelling across India and then China, which had just recently opened up its vast interiour to independent travellers, I was able to walk freely in the neighbourhoods, villages and fields off the beaten track, encountering people who were open and curious to meet a Westerner in their previously closed world. This was a brief time window only, because the Tiananmen protests, which happened shortly afterwards made many of these areas difficult to visit yet again. Deeply touched by the experience of both the beauty and the poverty of the communities I visited, I later decided to work in international development, a career I have been involved in ever since.
Several of the photos selected for an exhibition at the cornerHOUSE Art Centre in Tolworth, Surrey, were taken during this trip to Asia and others a few years later in Southern Africa, while working in the Kingdom of Lesotho on my first aid-related job with the UN and afterwards driving across Namibia and the Kalahari in search of the San Bushmen.
For many years, while being busy travelling and working elsewhere, these slide transparencies lay mothballed in boxes, almost forgotten until I found them again one day, selected the best ones and had them scanned into digital format.
Now, almost 30 years later, I am very pleased that these portraits, landscapes and street scenes see the light of day once more, remembering and honouring the encounters with wonderful people, some of whom have undoubtedly passed on in the meantime, now offering reminiscence of a moment in history just before the onslaught of globalization began to irrevocably change the face of those landscapes, towns and villages. Some of these places I had the chance to revisit during recent years. Many of them have now changed beyond recognition. Where once traditional Chinese courtyard residences stood and where many of the Chinese portraits were taken, faceless high-rise blocks have now taken their space and have totally changed the fabric of traditional community life. Many of these selected images are thus memories of an almost bygone era.
Current Events:
10 - 27 September 2013 - Photo exhibition Images of the Eighties: Travels in Africa and Asia at the cornerHOUSE Art Centre in Tolworth, Surrey (www.thecornerhouse.org). Gala night event on 17 September from 7-9pm.
01 - 22 November 2013 - follow up Photo exhibition Images of the Eighties: Travels in Africa and Asia at the The Press Room Coffee House in Surbiton, Surrey (pressroomcoffee.co.uk).
© Thomas Jentsch