ONE WITH THE MONKS

FROM RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME AT THE AGE OF 16 TO HAVING HIS PECULIAR STYLES IN PORTRAITS, JIMMY NELSON EPITOMIZES EVERYTHING THAT YOU EXPECT FROM A TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER. HUMBLE, HARDWORKING AND OVERALL AN AFFABLE GUY. HIS PHOTOGRAPHS COMMUNICATE THE SUBJECT’S SENSE OF BEING. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ASIAN PHOTOGRAPHY HE SPEAKS ABOUT HIS PROCESS AND HOW PATIENCE ALWAYS.

- SANCHIT MISHRA

How did you get into photography?

My journey in photography started in my childhood as my father was a geologist and spend his time away from us. I was a young child and I remember these communities and different parts of the world. I was taken out of this side of the world and put in boarding school, so I was confused between both the worlds.

But becoming a photographer was an accident. At the age of 16 I ran away to Tibet and stayed with the monks. With a small camera, I was trying to find a way to reconnect with myself and the experience that I had in my childhood. And in many ways, I’ve spent the whole of my life since then trying to reconnect with it. It’s not the photography which thrills me but it’s using the camera to see the other and present them in a way that we’ve never normally seen them.

How did you develop an interest in photographing portraits of tribal and indigenous people?

Well I just described in my previous answer the interest started when I left home and went to Tibet with the monks. And trying to find a way to reconnect with myself and that experience that I had in my childhood. I used to capture photos of every person who was nice to me. And that’s how I developed my interest in photographing tribal and indigenous people.

What is the most difficult and rewarding part of being a photographer for you?