Bonaire: Trans World Radio

The flight from Curaçao to Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles lasted about 20 mins. I had no idea what to expect.

The greatest lesson I have learned in life is to expect nothing. Just let the world surprise you. Being totally open to experiences doesn’t necessarily mean saying yes to everything, but allowing for new experiences to teach you, opens you up to great change. The type of change that makes you level up. For me, that type of change is worth the excitement, the turbulent plane rides, the 3am wake up calls, and the discomfort that comes when you put your trust into a strangers hands.

I had the privilege of photographing the workers at Trans World Radio on the island of Bonaire. I have to admit, driving out to the desolate salt planes made me feel a little bit like Hemingway on a wild expedition, to a far away land.

They say that radio waves below the ground travel further and faster when surrounded by salt. How fitting is the largest radio station in the Western Hemisphere, with the largest reach is located on a salt plane. Perhaps a little divine intervention, perhaps a little bit strategical planning.

In a single day I met and worked alongside 20 hard working and dedicated individuals and their families. I took a road trip across the island of Bonaire with Marietta, engaged in deep conversation, shared meals, enjoyed stunning postcard like views, saw flamingos, toured salt planes and created the photographs that will serve to tell the story of Trans World Radio in Bonaire.

Thank you to Marietta and her family for their unforgettable hospitality, and the family at TWR for being so accommodating and helping me create a small body of work I am truly proud of, and for your thoughts and prayers when my mother was sick. I admire everything about the work you all do, I am so happy to have been a tiny part of it.

Erika

Trans World Radio — Bonaire http://www.twrbonaire.com/