Garret M. Clarke Photography's photostream  

I grew up in Southern California. I studied International Economics in Northern California and Madrid. Through this study I began to develop a greater understanding and compassion for the various forces on human existence that contribute to our experiences in life. My first year out of college I lived in Madrid, with no money, but all the time I needed to wonder the streets and learn how to use the camera. This year solidified my desire to incorporate my education about people and my desire to use photography as a means to express my opinions. I spent time studying photography in California, before I left to Taiwan to pursue an MBA and learn Mandarin. I felt that an MBA would be an appropriate choice as it would teach me the skills necessary to develop the often overlooked business side of being a photographer. I now live in Taiwan. The first two years here I completed my MBA with my thesis written on the changing landscape of photography sales from the development of micro stock agencies.

The last year I have been working on project about manual laborers in Taiwan. As in many countries, these workers are treated with little respect. The images in this series challenge the viewer to look at the subjects in a different manner. The intentional use of commercial lighting and posing is used to romanticize these workers, and disrupt the common stereotype of physical workers. I have shot workers in Farms, Fishing boats, and Factories.

I have also just returned from a photographic expedition in Sri Lanka. I was busy shooting the indigenous peoples of Sri Lanka. TDambana Vedda
Sri Lanka's indigenous inhabitants, the Veddas – or Wanniya-laeto ('forest-dwellers') – preserve a direct line of descent from the island's original Neolithic community dating from at least 16,000 BC and probably far earlier according to current scientific opinion.