Daidaa, a lifelong nomadic herder living in the Hovd Province of western Mongolia.
I spent the summer in Mongolia researching and implementing solar applications for impoverished and nomadic households. It was an incredible journey, despite not showering for 20 days at one point and surviving 2 wolf attacks, various river crossings, freak summer blizzards, etc. The hospitality of these nomadic families is unrivaled, and without them I probably would have died out in the middle of nowhere.
Over a third of the population live below the poverty line, and another third live precariously on that line. A host of problems, including climate change, over grazing, and the changing economy have destroyed the livelihoods of countless sheep-herders (their main way of life outside of the capital). I remain hopeful, but the project faces a lot of challenges and will definitely take a lot of time and supervision if it's to be successful.
In what Daidaa described as the worst winter in years, this past dzud (harsh winter weather) killed over 4 million livestock. My project primarily focuses on utilizing a particular micro-enterprise program started by ADRA that helps retrain these destitute sheep-herders, and incorporating solar technology (primarily solar cooking) as a vocation. My field experiences to test feasibility passed with flying colors, and mongolians couldn't stop raving about how useful solar cookers were, as simple as they may be.
The photo was shot near sunset with a canon flash triggered on the right.
My name is Mikasi and I am a member here. One of my goals this year is to walk out of 2010 a better photographer. To do this, I am contacting 3 people this week from DPChallenge who have photos I like and asking them how they did it.
I was looking at your photo Mongol - it is really good. The shadows, the crisp look of the crinkles in the jacket, the balance of the dark drama in the sky with the well-illuminated foreground characters. These and other things make the photo look really great.
You're likely really busy, but if you have some small time could you drop a line telling me a little of what you did to make this photograph look so good? That is if you find time to write amongst all the other things you do.
Kris. Your work (photographic and your project) is inspiring and humbling. Going through your Mongolian portfolio is inspirational as far as getting people involved in helping destitute people such as these. Your photography can play a pivotal role in bringing the need of these people to the rest of the world.
Congrats on your ribbon and good luck with your endeavors. Thanks for the background story. Just had a peek at your photo site and there's some truly incredible stuff. Excellent work.
congrats on the ribbon, well -deserved.
I hope your project is successful; it certainly sounds like an adventure. I'll have a look at your other photos when I get home.
This is one of the best portraits I've ever seen! Very very nice work. One suggestion might be to bring him closer than the horse so he's larger in the frame...
Mongol
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