General Entry - Emerging Talent Awards

I have read many articles about the pros and cons of traveling alone - the personal and logistic challenges associated with flying solo in a foreign land. While the authors make compelling, instinctive, and well researched points, I feel that they are missing a much deeper narrative. "Wide Awake" is an exploration of that depth. Shot entirely with wide and ultrawide angle lenses, the series of landscape portraits attempts to join, in a single frame, all of the various travel companions that I encounter on my solo expeditions. From the sand and fog, to the sea and summits, I never feel the least bit alone. "A?aç" for example, is the result of over two hours spent at the peak of a mountain in the Nev?ehir region of Turkey where I was surrounded by warm whipping winds, the setting sun, the subtle peaks off in the horizon, and a single naked tree that exposed me to more lessons about life, love, and fortune than I have gleaned from any animate object in my lifetime. My goal with this series is to place the viewer alongside me, and elicit a curiosity about environment, season, smells, mood, and more. To ignite the imagination. To encourage an adventurous spirit. To inspire exploration of self - the most profound travel partner one could hope to know.