William Daniels may not always find the right words, but he has the pictures and a tremendous amount of energy. As a teenager, he watched his father develop black and white negatives but preferred to unwind with his drum kit and skateboard. Strangely enough, he owes his photography career to a technical college specialising in energy and physics, where boredom prompted him to apply for a study program in Guadeloupe and discover South America. "Strong emotional experiences, like this trip, were what generated my interest in photography", he says. At the age of 23, after two years of seasonal work and intensive snowboarding, an NGO sent him to the Philippines to teach photography to young girls from rough backgrounds. He brought back a magnificent report on street children in Manille, which won him recognition, awards and publications. He decided then to receive formal training at the Centre Iris in Paris, determined to return to Asia as quickly as possible. Or perhaps go further afield, like Libya, Darfur and Sri Lanka where NGOs and major newspapers including L’Express, La Croix and Le Monde would later send him. Once a member of the Dolce Vita committee, "a fantastic mixing pot of fresh talent which helped me gain recognition", the photographer now works freelance and has a clear idea of what he wants to do: to work on long-term projects to be able to delve into the subject matter. That’s the approach he has taken to his current work on malaria, which covers Uganda, Zanzibar and India all the way to the Thai-Burmese border. And it’s the same of his award-winning project here, which will ensure he gets to spend a great deal of time in Kyrgyzstan. Time perhaps to see the emergence of democracy in this young and unstable republic.

Age: 30 I Passions: Photography and snowboarding I Philosophy in life: To have fun I Goals: That photography will bring me the greatest pleasure and experiences possible!  I Favourite photographers: Paolo Pellegrin, Francesco Zizola.