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About Julien Thomas
Shooting for luxury hotels, or having my hands in tons of rubbish when I work with kids, or going on immersive trips and wild camping in the middle of nowhere: all these different journeys are/were fantastic to me.
Hello. I am Julien (in my early 40s) and working as a professional and freelance photographer in Cambodia.
Over my years in Southeast Asia and always with a camera in my hands, life has taken me on very contrasting journeys, such as: adventurous and photojournalism trips, plastic waste courses for children, and corporate photography.
Have I always wanted to be a professional photographer? No, it just came over the years while I was living these previous journeys and involving fantastic experiences for each of them!
I am grateful that photography has always followed me, and I’ll always be a traveler at heart.
Why photojournalism?
Photojournalism is my big jump into photography and started in 2010 in Southeast Asia. At that time, I was a seasoned traveler living long-term experiences off-the-beaten-track: traveling in remote areas to encounter authentic ways of life, wild camping and taking photos.
This amazing journey and incredible trips brought me many fantastic experiences of a lifetime. And it ended-up being a great start in corporate photography.
Why plastic waste courses for children?
It started in 2014 and it was a personal ambition related to my previous experiences in these countries.
(…)
During this amazing journey, I’ve collected thousands of discarded plastic bags with children and experienced hundreds of moments of real happiness from them.
Why hospitality photography?
Honestly, during my previous (above) journey, I was hoping that at some point I could work for an NGO on a long-term plastic waste course. But it never happened.
As I was looking for to stay in Asia, I just came to turn my photography skills for the hospitality industry! Here in 2017, I started at the bottom of the ladder with my first photo shoots for hostels, and step by step to fancier places.
This new journey has been another and very challenging one for the ‘badass traveler’ I was. Gratefully it brought me a living and professional techniques in corporate photography and post-production.
Why 360 degree photography?
It started during my courses for children. Indeed and when preparing the project, a project’ partner gave me a 360° camera to take such photos along my courses.
Along my actual courses and the beginning of my interest for 360 photography, I saw this virtual tour (Château de Mirambeau – France) and I can say that this project (released in 2013!!) blow up my eyes! Amazing 360-photos combined with a stunning technology: it didn’t take long before I started learning how to create mine.
Questions & Answers
They cannot be compared. All were truly amazing and involves personal experiences.
However, an amazing journey and fantastic souvenir will forever be in Australia: the crossing of the Simpson Desert!
(few days, few nights, ~500kms in a desert, solo with my 4WD!)
Know that the backdrop of my projects in Southeast Asia is related to years of travels experiences – which have no need to be related on my website.
I was discovering the world and growing experiences.
Even though this topic is personal, I can say that I left France before my 20s and worked and traveled in different countries before coming to Asia. During those times I’ve spent quite a few years without going back to France!
No, but I wish I had done one – or two.
I always had more important things to do rather than to sit for a while and write about myself!
What is important is to pass on / convey what we have seen, to pass on / convey what we have learned, otherwise all we have done has pretty much no value / importance. Because there is only one thing that matters to people: it's knowingness.