14th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Amy

Amy is half British and half Japanese. I visited her house in Phonong village, Laos, while shooting a short documentary for my NGO. Her parents, Sachi and Adam, founded a new English school in this rural place to help young Laotians developing skills like confidence, hard work, and most of all what they call 'love and unity'. What is really amazing in their work, is that it's not work for them: that is just how they live life, and what they teach their students is not different from what they teach their children. I remember very clearly the moment I shot this picture: I was in the garden with Adam, he was transforming one of the big trees in a 'game' for Amy and her brother. "I believe young kids in this part of the world have a connection with nature we never had" he told me, "and I want my children to be able to play with nature without ever being scared, and I want them to know about the endless possibilities this world offers".

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 02.2016
Date Uploaded: 05.2016
Photo Location: Phonhong village, Laos
Camera: Canon EOS 100D
Copyright: © Alice Zentilomo