Reportage: Five Years Later

On December 26, 2004, water rushed into the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, located at the tip of Northern Sumatra. Many thought the looming grey background was the overcast sky, until a series of large waves four stories high engulfed the city, traveling five miles inland.

The people of Banda Aceh never knew what a "normal" life was before the 2004 tsunami, which killed about 160,000 people in Aceh Province. They lived with 30 years of war in a politically unstable region. It was as unstable as the earthquakes that haunt the country.

After the tsunami, hundreds of international aid organizations rebuilt the city and surrounding villages, leaving residents to create a new economy; with a renewed sense of peace and progress. Thanks to the 2005 Helsinki peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the rebel separatist army, the Free Aceh Movement, the people of Aceh can freely travel about in their own city with the daily buzz of motorbikes and calls to prayer and without military checkpoints and political strife.

A feature on my work can be seen on NPR's The Picture Show. This work also gained recognition with the Asian American Journalist Association for the 2010 National Award in Photography.