For curiosity's sake, I searched for myself on Google the other day. What I found made me realize even more what a rewarding experience it has been to study photojournalism at the Danish School of Journalism. Skimming through the search results, I came across a Danish Web site featuring some of my photography.

One of my first photography assignments was to document a particular aspect of Herredsvang, a multiethnic neighborhood in Aarhus, for the Aarhus Festival. My 10 photos were shown along with photos from the youth living in Herredsvang, the other international and Danish photojournalism students, and several Danish professional photographers, such as Joachim Ladefoged, Nicky Bonne, Casper Dalhoff, Anders Bach and Jacob Holdt. The reason for the project, "Herredsvang in Your Eyes," was to unite the 50-plus nationalities living in Herredsvang with the rest of Aarhus.

The reason for the project, "Herredsvang in Your Eyes," was to unite the 50-plus nationalities living in Herredsvang with the rest of Aarhus.

While aimlessly wandering the neighborhood desperately seeking subjects, my ear caught the sound of "My Way" playing nearby at an activity center. When I opened the door, an animated 60-something-year-old man was conducting an orchestra of about 50 people.

During one of their breaks, I got permission to take photos of the "Blæsergrupen 71" rehearsing for a performance at the Aarhus Festival. After taking nearly 200 photos and finally finding my angle, I decided to call it a day. The title of my segment became "Classical Herredsvang," which expressed how classical music resided in the neighborhood where Hip-Hop music is predominantly heard.

It hasn't always been easy finding subjects for assignments though. The thing about photojournalism is one has to document reality through the lens. In order to do so, one has to make a lasting connection with others, often in a short amount of time, to allow an accurate depiction of the subject's world.

After previously taking two photojournalism classes at UT, I had finally become a bit more comfortable with opening up to others with my camera in order for them to open up to me in return.

Coming to Denmark was like starting all over again. I had stepped outside the familiarity of my comfort zone and was slightly shell-shocked at trying to engage with people whose first language was not my own.

However, most of the people I've encountered have been nothing but friendly toward my efforts to document life around them. The initial stage, for me, is the hardest: making the connection. Though I love and enjoy photographing the world around me, at the same time, I feel as if I am inconveniencing the people I want to photograph. To be quite honest, if someone approached me and asked if they could follow me around for the day and document what I do, I would decline.

Life behind the lens is, therefore, much easier. I have more comfort in steering the attention from myself and onto others.

The experience, so far, has been rewarding to say the least. Having your work shown with someone way more famous and skilled than yourself, in a foreign country, while at the same time gaining cross-cultural interpersonal skills isn't something everyone can say they experienced.