Shorewood Native Shares World Travels through Camera Lens

In photographing candid scenes in faraway places like North Korea, Burma and China, Sam Gellman says he hopes to provide a glimpse into other cultures and reveal that we all share universal truths.

"I think people look at a place like North Korea and see it as an evil, different and backwards place," he said. "I like to talk with people and show universal characteristics that we all share and I think that catches some people off guard.

“…Photography is an avenue to show different people are similar. And show people, even in Shorewood, that they share something with others around the world.”

Gellman, an experienced traveling photographer living in Hong Kong and working in financial services, is originally from Wisconsin and graduated from Shorewood High School in 2000.

He was a short-listed finalist in the 2010 and 2011 Travel Photographer of the Year Awards for images from Myanmar, China, and North Korea, but his photography really came to the forefront a few months ago, after photos of North Korea's Mass Games, a massive choreographed display including thousands of performers, surfaced and went viral.

Gellman says after he granted an interview to a well-followed blogger, and other bloggers wrote about the photos, he started getting press from media outlets including BBC, National Public Radio, Business Insider, Wired, MSN and the Huffington Post.

He saw his website's traffic blossom to 15,000 visits per day. According to Wired, Gellman’s North Korea set he posted to Flickr received more than 220,000 hits from people across the globe seeking a glimpse into the secluded nation.

However, the added attention caused Gellman anxiety, because of the strict guidelines North Korea imposes on photography in the country.

“It was all a little nerve-wracking," he says.

When Gellman moved to Hong Kong, he didn't even own a professional camera and wouldn't realize his passion for photography until his mother and sister Sarah came out on a vacation. Gellman and his sister ventured out to capture images of the countryside, and he noticed how incredible his sister’s photos were and how his didn’t do the atmosphere justice.

He purchased his first camera and some books on photography, slowly teaching himself the art of photography.

“Living in Hong Kong, there are so many opportunities to capture great photos,” he says. “I started traveling more and more and seeing more incredible places.”

Gellman says some of his favorite places to photograph are Burma, North Korea and China. And, viewing culture through the camera lens has allowed him to see a more diverse side of the continent.

“Burma, it’s one of the poorest countries in the world, but people are incredibly inviting and willing to have their photo taken," he says. "It’s an incredibly warm place to go.

“I also love going to China. It’s an incredibly diverse place to go. It’s this massive place with a huge population. But, amongst all of it, I like to capture a small, quiet moment in time.”

Gellman is ambivalent about what it means to be a photographer, saying the label isn't as unique as it once was with the access to quality equipment nowadays, but in the same sense, it's also easier to publish work online, and gain a following.

Outside of a significant following on Flickr and his website, Gellman has just recently started a Facebook page and seen an explosion of likes — 9,000 in just one week.

In his mind, avenues like online networks are much more powerful distribution avenues than an art gallery.

Even with the popularity of his photography, Gellman says he has no interest in becoming a professional photographer or photojournalist.

“I’ve never been taught how to make a photograph into a piece of art,” he says, referring to branding, autographing photos, etc. “The whole experience is much more fun when it’s a hobby.

"When it becomes a source of income, it changes the experience.”