In 2014, I had the chance to visit a tribe in the Masai Mara in Kenya. I asked my brother-in-law to borrow his DSLR camera so I could take pictures and capture memories of the trip. It was the first time I had used a DSLR camera, and I remember thinking how amazing it would be to do that for a living. It was like a child dreaming about being an astronaut, something almost impossible to achieve.
Nine years later, when my good friend Christian asked me to go with him to Papua New Guinea to document disappearing tribes, I didn't hesitate. I grabbed my camera and embarked on this life-changing trip. It ticked all the boxes for me: a remote place not many people know about, indigenous cultures, and the opportunity to use my camera with a purpose to deliver a message and create an impact. The dream was becoming a reality.
The idea behind the documentary story was to show the positive impact that tourism is having on the conservation of PNG indigenous cultures, as opposed to other regions of the world where tourism has caused a loss of identity. Tourism in PNG has done the opposite, reminding these communities about the importance of keeping their cultures alive while providing them with the necessary resources to subsist and claim their lands.
Projects like this remind me of why I do what I do and why I chose photography to leave my footprint in this world.
