international wedding photographer:
www.bobbyearle.com
leader of the raddest photography trips in the world:
www.raddestphototripever.com
lame blogger who acts cool:
www.bobbyearle.blogspot.com
vagabond:
imagery
Left: Beijing, China. Right: Siem Reap, Cambodia. Photographer: Dane Dyck.
A bit about me:
I'm insanely obsessed with traveling this globe.
I love people.
I'm the least artistic artistic person in the world (if that makes sense :P).
I can't do anything without Lindsay (my wife) - be it a foreign country or a trip to the store.
If you bully people around me, I'm not having it.
I'm a firm believer that famous people are rarely great and great people are rarely famous.
Frank Black is the most talented man alive (in my book).
About 4 years ago, brazilian jiu-jitsu (and MMA, in general) became a serious obsession.
I LOVE clothes shopping for Lindsay - but couldn't care less about my clothes. Usually have two pairs of pants that I wear for a couple years mixed with three or four t-shirts. Hang out with me for a month -- you'll see.
If I want it, I go for it with everything I got.
I still consider myself a skateboarder first - even though I haven't done so seriously in years.
I am grateful for life whether I'm in Escondido (hometown) or a place like Prague.
I'd argue that I'm more obsessed with animals than most vegans - but I also eat them. Go fig.
on a road trip, are most of your clothes in suitcase, a moving box, or a laundry basket?
All over the hotel/hostel/guesthouse floor - and then thrown in the backpack about five minutes before we're supposed to leave :)
swim suit or skinny dip?
I'm a nerd with a bad ear infection so I hardly go in the water these days :P
one place in the world where you haven't been, but you MUST go.
One?! Not possible. Gorilla trekking in Uganda, North Korea, Easter Island, Antarctica... so many more!
when visiting a new city, what intangible items are you hoping to capture?
This is what I mean by being the least artistic artist in the world. I don't think I've ever had a thought like this :) I'm usually just on the hunt for something that tastes oh so good that I can't get at home.
what is your favorite junk food when traveling?
I'm a HUGE food nerd - so it totally depends on the region. South of France/Italy - it's all about the gelato. In Beijing, there's these sort of honey/egg doughnuts that aren't doughnuts at all... Amazing. There's this one bakery in Paris that we always go to that has this raspberry tart... OHHH MAN! In SE Asia, there's these fried bread things that they put banana and nutella in - I'm not a fan but Lindsay would leave me for a lifetime supply, I'm sure.
tell a story about a memorable, intriguing person you met while exploring who you never saw again.
At the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise (a HUGE cemetery with famous dead people). We were standing at the Auschwitz memorial and this old Polish man started talking to us. We were better with our french in those days, so we kept up best we could. When he found out we were english speakers, he was happy to switch (he was a professor in his younger days - and I think he liked showing off his education - so cute).
His mother and father had passed in Auschwitz - and he and his brother survived it. He told us his stories - but with one twist. He had Alzheimer's. About every four or five minutes, he'd look up at us, reintroduce himself, start in french, and we'd work our way to english. Every time he found out we were from the states he'd get REALLY excited and tell us "I have a brother... in Baltimore!" Well after the fifth or sixth introduction, he said "I have a brother..." and I cut him off and said "in Baltimore???" He looked up at me with excitement like I performed a great magic trick for him and just said "yeeeessss!!!" One of the best memories of my life.
He brings his mom flowers every morning to the memorial. America has its faults, and I wish we would have acted sooner against the Nazi's, but I'm proud that my country helped at least in time to save him and his brother :)
describe your favorite local hang-out.
The Earle compound. That's what our place is called. All are welcome and most just show up without a phone call.
describe how you feel when you're alone with your camera and in a new location...
I'm never alone. Lindsay's always with me. Seriously. It gets soooo annoying! :P
Honestly though, I'm always happy to be out and about and just press the button when I like something. I wish it sounded more genius than that!
what inspires you to take the next step by photographing, writing, or composing a song about the area you're in.
I think I just like good pictures and figure "hell, I can make some of those!" I'm sure part of me wants to have something to look back at later in life. It could be cool for my kids to have an unending supply of "my dad shot these!" well after I'm gone. But there will probably be so many incredible photographers by that point that they'll look at them endearingly like "how cute, at least dad tried to be great..." There's probably more - but that's all I can think of right now.
describe your nearest "getaway spot."
I love life so much and never feel that "I just need to get away!" urge that many (understandably) feel. But there are two places in the world where I feel like everything is right - almost balanced. The orphanage in Beijing feels like a little piece of heaven on earth. Bush walking amongst elephant, rhino, hippo, etc. out in Kruger (South Africa) feels like I'm there at the beginning of the world. Neither are very "near" - but I feel more disconnected from everyday life in those two places than I ever have.
