Jimmy Nelson – Before They Pass Away
I realized that in the end people are all the same and that what’s behind the scenes is often very different from what you read or what you are being told. To give you an example; the majority of the Chinese army who were going into Tibet didn’t want to go there and they had no idea why they were going and they were happy to take me, to help me in my process in asking the questions, also for them. This made me realize that it is very exciting to put yourself in these situations because it is often very different than it is perceived to be and that amazing things can be achieved by just letting go and trusting. Tibet has been closed since 1995 and I went in there in 1996. People told me: “You can’t do that Jimmy”, well it taught me you can do anything.
Photography has always been a means to an end. I am not a technical photographer, I am not interested in the camera or the lenses. I often don’t even know how modern cameras work, it’s purely an excuse because I have to justify my travels. Using the camera is for me a way to communicate – the camera is a tool, not necessarily for making pictures, it’s more than that.
A lot of photographers are very obsessed with their camera and their lenses and the technique and they forget what they are photographing and why they are photographing. I am the complete opposite – I am very busy with what I am photographing and why I am photographing it and the camera is just something I use in between.
