To the Heart of It

To the Heart of It



Photography
has always been the most natural extension of how I
perceive the world around me. It was never a conscious choice to
make it my career, it just became something I had to do – a way to
process and interpret my experiences.

The decisive moment came during my first trip to Sri Lanka in
2004 when I was 19 years old. It was my first time outside of
Europe, and I still remember stepping out onto the streets of
Colombo – the vibrant colours, the smell of spices, people haggling
and laughing – the scenes were filled with overwhelming intensity
and a distinctive aesthetic. My instinct was to capture it all with
photography, particularly the people – their emotions, their
character and their energy.

I found that photography can be a more genuine reflection of
human experiences than the written word. Since that first visit to
Sri Lanka, I’ve embarked on an average of two big trips a year –
all to countries I’ve never seen before. I want my firsthand
experiences to be the foundation of my relationship with any new
place, so that my intuitive emotional connection to it remains at
the core of my work.

Despite the different cultural and social frameworks of all the
places travel photography has taken me, it is possible to find
unity between them. This common thread is human beings and the
language we share – of emotions and of energy. I’m interested in
capturing the spirit of people more than anything, and the varied
cultures and environments of this earth act as backdrops to this
vast and beautiful variety of human expression.

My instinct is still to pack my camera and travel to some
obscure, unlikely corner of the planet to photograph how people
live. By capturing their expressions, their hopes and their fears,
we find out what it is that makes them unique, as well as what
makes them essentially human.

@benjamineagle
| benjamineagle.com

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