Introducing the ADVENSHARE series. Intimate dialogue sessions to cultivate a culture of creative conversations. Discussions revolve around topics of design, travel, photography and youth activism. Initiated as part of the Canon EOS Youth Ambassador Programme with support from Perbadanan Perpustakaan Awam Selangor.
ADVENSHARE SESSION 06
Adib Harith
Traveler & Photographer, ARBA Travel
Adib Harith travels the world for a living to capture photographs. A graduate of Universiti Teknologi Petronas, he found his calling in exploring the world and seeks to fulfil his curiosity about life. His photography project, Monsoulia, follows his journey from Malaysia through Thailand, Cambodia and Mongolia.
A video of this session is available here: Advenshare and is embedded at the end of this post
Hi Adib! So far as we know, your whole background experience was more towards the software, technology, IT sector... how did photography come into it?
Hi! Previously I studied Business Information System at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, and I've worked as a software engineer and an application engineer. I did the corporate life for 3 years, I stopped for one year of freelancing, then I joined ARBA Travel and am now working in the brand and media department.
My dad is a sort of photographer. Dia selalu beli film cameras, then a 3.1mp camera and so on. Somehow, there's always a camera in our house, so bila ada camera kat rumah, anak-anak dia selalu pakai. It stuck with me. Everywhere I went, even time sekolah, I will bring my camera, ambik gambar sini sana. I was exposed to cameras quite early on.
So it was a lot of experimenting and exploring with whatever camera you had at your disposal back then. But what was the point that you thought - 'I want to do more of this (photography)?'
After my SPM, I worked as a teacher for 9 months and saved up. With that money, I bought my first DSLR. And that was when I thought - this is what I'm going to do, I'm going to learn photography. I took photos, joined clubs, communities, competitions and travelled. I learned a lot of photography and design by myself. Most of my day job is related to IT, but I always took up freelance jobs to do creative work, everything I learned is from youtube and magazines.
I suppose if it's something that you love, you'll find a way to do it anyway. I mean, if you know what you love to do, and if you find yourself leaning more towards that, just follow it- why not just see how far it can take you, right?
It's fulfilling, doing something that you really really want to do.
Speaking of seeing how far it can take you, you went all the way to Mongolia, and you did a photo project called Monsoulia. What was that about ?
Monsoulia is a self project. It joins the words Mongolia + Soul - something like searching for yourself while you're travelling. I was that guy sebelum I kahwin, wanting to find myself. This was after 2 years of working, and I said to myself: I want to quit, and I'm going to travel, for a long period. **** all this **** and just go. I actually said to my boss, when I gave him my resignation letter, "I want to chase my dream". I had saved up a lot while I was working. I was lucky because, before that my company had sent me to Africa work as an application engineer, and the salary was quite high, which enabled me to save up. So I had the finances to just blow it on this trip. I set a mindset that this savings was for travelling.
How much did you use up during that three months?
I spent about RM7000-8000. Mostly I stayed over at hostels, and because it was Ramadhan, I stopped by at a lot of mosques along the way for food during buka.
My goal was to go and take pictures there. Why Mongolia? It's like a magical place. I went backpacking through Thailand, Cambodia, and China, all the way up north for three months. I took busses, trains, motorcycles, and hitchhiked. I didn't research before I went. I just went, and figured it out along the way.
There were a lot of problems along the journey. But you know what, that's part of it, and you just have to face it. You don't have to be stressed, you just have to terima. And it was really fun. It actually taught me as a person on how to be independent. When I was there, my closest company was God. And whatever happened, I just prayed.
So you were out there for 3 months.. what was one of the best moments?
The best moment for me was to be in Mongolia. The first time I stepped on a train to Ulaanbaatar, the main city, I cried in the train. I was like, 'man, I'm here, after 2 months!'. Along the way, a lot of people said I was doing something stupid. But it's not that you want to prove to people that you are 'it' or anything, it's that you want to prove that you can do many things on your own.
Sounds like a dream come true. Share with us images you've taken..
Here's a photo I took on a 26 hours train, from Chengdu to Kunming in China. It's quite compact and was really stressful, as there are a lot of people lying on the ground too. You see families just cramped together. If you go to the toilet, people don't even flush. Sitting in the train, I wouldn't say it's the worst place, but it's the best place for people watching.
This photo is a bit abstract and artistic. To me, Mongolia is a land of land. It's just land as far as the eye can see, non stop, with some hills. And you can see it going up and down throughout the landscape. There's not a lot of trees, just glass.
It's very magical. Even throughout my journey there, I asked others how is Mongolia? Everyone said, 'I don't know, you have to go there'. I wondered- why can't people give me a definition? But I guess it's true, you have to go there and experience it for yourself.
One of my few regrets is that I didn't save as much money as I could have. But if you have the chance to travel when you are young, just go for it, even if you don't have any experience. In 2016 I cycled my way from Tokyo to Osaka for 9 days. I wasn't an athlete, and the topography was 70% hilly. It was actually quite tough. But that's where you push yourself. It's not about proving to the world, it's about proving to yourself that you can do it. I'm no one. But I jenis berangan, and if I tak buat, tak best. And when you're travelling 'alone', you're not actually alone, you're travelling with the world.
You can keep in touch with Adib here:
Instagram: Artdeep
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