Michael Yamashita
Isfahan, Iran, 2017
In fact, I never met Michael Yamashita. However, I consider him a great master of visual storytelling. And I want to learn from him.
Michael is not an ordinary National Geographic photograph. He can focus long-term on a project like no other. And this requires a lot of hard work.
Michael knows well that he can't be everywhere. It's hard to go in-depth if your projects are spread over all continents of the globe. He built his expertise by becoming the inside man of Asia, especially in the cultures along the Silk Road.
This led to the birth of his Marco Polo photography project.
Many people have doubts about Marco’s adventures along the Silk Road. And Michael decided to find evidence. A tough job, considering that everything happened centuries.
Michael Yamashita’s approach was simple and genius at the same time. He started his research in the birthplace of Marco Polo - Venice. Then he traveled to each place on the Silk Road to photograph. Michael tried to do it as if is the 13th century. Also, he looked for clues and compared his own experience with the official diaries of Marco Polo.
I am impressed by Michael Yamashita’s willpower and hard work related to the Marco Polo project. He inspired me to be bold and do my photography project. My adventure brought me to Iran. I went there to meet people who live as per ancient tradition that dates before the Persian empire.
