 At a very early age, I was bitten by a species of insect known in the world of literature as "Globus Voyagus Leopodoptra", or more commonly, "The Travel Bug". It's resulting sickness led me to explore more than 40 countries in 5 continents. It was during these voyages that I picked up my fathers' childhood Zeiss Ikon camera for the very first time.
My love affair with photography did not begin with creative intentions but with a journey of self-discovery and immortalization. Being an only child, I have always felt a weight of responsibility and duty to pass along the history of my ancestors. I can remember avidly listening to the stories of my heritage during family dinners, trying to commit them to memory and being so frustrated by only finding a handful of tattered photos of eras gone by. I longed to be able to see what they saw, to help tell the stories; to make them more real; more visceral. This frustration brought on a sense of urgency to document my own life- for posterity's sake- in the hopes of bringing future generations closer to me. It was this desire that led me to take my first class in photography at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
During my college years I was awarded numerous prizes and received recognition for many of my works. I was then blessed with the opportunity to work with the late Trong Thanh, a renowned Vietnamese photographer, whom I accompanied on a series of photo shoots in some of Vietnam's most remote areas, generally unaccessible by the average tourist. The experience was enlightening and I took kindly to his words of wisdom and critiques, which allowed me to better my relationship with my camera.
Since then I have considered my camera to be a natural extension of myself and the means through which future generations would be able to see the world through my eyes -for is this not what makes us all individual and unique? As part of this "truth", I long ago made myself a promise to never digitally alter my photos in anyway so that posterity could truly see what I saw. As such the photos you are seeing have not been manipulated in anyway. As a matter of fact, they haven't even been cropped.
My travels have blessed me with many pleasant adventures, but the most vivid of my experiences however, remains one from when I was 17, traveling through Ethiopia, I helped a woman deliver her first child. It was an experience that would change my life forever and which led me to persue my other passion: medicine.
I currently am a practicing Obstetrician/Gynecologist in northern California and have not only shared in the intimacy of deliverng hundreds of children, but have also been of support through many of my patients medical and emotional hardships. As I reflect on the amazing things I have lived and seen, forever burned in my memory is the face of awe and wonder on my first patient. Now, a decade later, I see the same everyday, not only on my patients’ faces but also on my own.
I hope you like looking at my pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them....
For the future,
Aron Schuftan |
|
|