Welcome to my website and thank you so much for taking the time to browse through it. It has been my dream for the last 10-15 years to set up a “real” website but, alas, a certain apathy took the best of me until now. My new year’s resolution of 2019 was that this was the year I was going to do it and, well, I cut it down to the wire, but I did it.
I have loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember and, somehow, in my heart, I think it is what I was meant to do since childhood. So much is my love for and conviction about photography that, in September 2019, I decided to take a sabbatical (career change?) from being a doctor to focus entirely on my career as a photographer. I have no idea where this road will take me, but I look forward to the challenges ahead.
I wanted to build this site really for two reasons: first of all, I wanted to share my images in a more formal manner with all of you, I have collected and classified thousands of pictures linked to my life as a photographer. Until now, no one has ever seen them. The website gives me a formal platform to sell my work to many of you that have asked me over the years to do so. Secondly, I wanted to create a diary-like place where I could document my life, particularly my travels. As I get older, more and more, I feel the weight of being an only child. Whatever I do not share dies with me…A rather morbid view, but one that holds true. With such a rich cultural, familial and personal heritage I must not let that happen. As such, much of what you see and read in this site will be very personal and dear to me. I do not expect it to resonate with all of you, but those that know me personally, or those that would like to know more about me, will be interested, I want to think.
I would be in debt if I did not acknowledge a long list of people that have been instrumental in my development as a person and a photographer. Allow me to do so here…
First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents Aviva and Claudio (Mami and Papi). They have always been supportive of what started as a hobby and even nurtured it in the early days when I was gifted my father’s antique Zeiss Ikon camera that he got at his bar mitzvah when he was 13 years old. I would also like to acknowledge not only the countless hours that my father spent driving me around on the back of his motorbike to shoot photos in surrounding neighborhoods, but also the hundreds of hours he (and my mother) spent looking through thousands of photos and old time negative rolls giving me their always honest opinions.
To my first teacher, the renown, Mr. Trong Thanh. He took me under his wing when I was just a young man, learning this new art form. Despite not sharing a common spoken language, we were able to communicate through our photos and his tutelage certainly taught me lessons that resonate with me every time I pick up my camera even 30 years later.
I would like to thank Etienne Bossot from Pics of Asia, who refined those early skills learned and really took my photography to the next level especially during my recent ten-day photo-tour to Bangladesh. He taught me to “chase the light” and “separate your layers!”.
Nico Greeve, my dear friend that lit the proverbial “fire under my ass” for me to finally stop talking about a website and actually start setting one up. Thank you for this energizing and all your advice.
To Gregory Beale and Mike Gebremedhin, my buddies who, despite having busy family lives, always made time to answer my endless questions about camera gear. You are both right, fixed lenses are better…
To Lee Starnes, Fred Wissink, and Quinn Mattingly, fellow Vietnam photographers, thank you for all your advice and your frequent “how the hell do I make my new camera do this?” inputs.
To Mads Monsen, so great to finally meet you in Hanoi and thank you for your help with the direction this website should take.
To Justin Mott, my fellow “co-star” on History Channel’s “Photo-Face Off”, thank you for making that experience so fun and amazing and allowing me to have a glimpse of what it is like to be a celebrity photographer.
I would also like to thank Rachel Menell and Ron Tan, some of my oldest friends, for being my early supporters and my early muses.
Lagan Gill, Hugh Mellert and Diana Rodriguez my title masters, thank you so much, your inputs were so valuable!
To @sara_jjil, @jennyluu and @nyala_tours my number one instagram supporters, thank you for all the “likes”.
To Erik Hutchins and Anna Protasova, thank you for all the words of encouragement over the years. It really made the difference and kept me posting.
My immense thanks to my copy editors, Tien Nguyen and Rivka Lomarda, whom despite having English as a second language speak and write much better than I do.
To Mai Lam who, at the time of this writing, is a relatively new friend, but whose creative energy and inspiration is contagious and helped me cross the finish line.
To the Napit family, you adopted me, a total stranger in Nepal and showed me true kindness and love. Forever yours.
To Abhishek Kakran, for your hospitality in New Delhi. It left a lasting impression on me. I hope to one day return the favor.
To Rehan, although we have never met personally I have admired your work from afar. Thank you for being an inspiration to me here in Vietnam by making photography a “fine art” and giving me a template to chase my dreams and also giving me an example of how to run this complicated business.
And last but not least, to Ste Bell, my web designer and friend. Thank you for tackling the huge project with me; a huge collaborative effort that I do think we both may have underestimated in the beginning. Thank you for your real love and belief in my art. Thank you for allowing my dream to come to fruition. I am forever grateful for all your time, effort and patience.
Of course, I know that there have been many more that I have missed; I apologize. You know who you are and just know that I am so grateful for all that you have done.
Aron
