In Tanzania, an orphanage cares for children who were either abandoned by their parents or lost them at a young age. Some of the children are blind, some cannot walk and some cannot speak.
When Mike Gulbraa visited, he did not start with his camera. He played with the kids, helped them with their homework and listened to their hopes and dreams. Their dreams were simple: be healthy, live happily with their families and improve their lives through hard work or education.
“Those basic elements of human desire of feeling loved and loving, being engaged in something that’s benefiting your community and you, and being able to share that with people,” Gulbraa said. “It’s common across virtually every third-world country that I visit.”
The connection at the orphanage was brief, but it captures the heart of Gulbraa’s work: engaging with life in someone else’s world.
By age 62, Gulbraa had traveled to 162 countries, visited all seven continents and built a photography tour company that takes groups around the world to photograph wildlife, landscapes and cultures.
His love of photography started long before airports and safaris.
“I think I got into photography at the age of six and just have never given it up,” Gulbraa said.
He later served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan, where immersion in another culture sparked an interest in languages, traditions and global travel.
After returning, he studied Japanese, Asian studies and international relations at Brigham Young University.
Decades later, in 2009, Gulbraa launched his photo tour company, M&M Photo Tours, which allowed him to combine his passions for photography and travel.
From the temples in Thailand to the plains of Kenya, Gulbraa's photography is shaped by landscapes, wildlife, food and local traditions.
Some trips focus on people, others on wildlife, cityscapes or landscapes.
“No two trips are the same,” Gulbraa said.
In Africa, he photographed lions, rhinos, cheetahs and other animals, hoping to show the beauty and behavior of wildlife.
“I cannot look at any of the wildlife of Africa … and not think of the beauty that Heavenly Father created for our enjoyment,” Gulbraa said. “I want to show viewers that these animals possess a lot of beauty.”
Gulbraa has traveled to places with hundreds of different languages and cultures, but expression is something that transcends languages.
He said when people see the eyes of an animal or a person, it brings them to life.
“I always try to capture the eyes of any subject … whether that eye is happy, or inquisitive, or sad, or sometimes it’s a diseased eye. The eyes reflect ... the life of the person and the culture they might be involved in,” Gulbraa said.
Gulbraa said travel has shown him how different and also how similar people around the world can be.
“Utah is definitely growing in diversity, but we don’t have the hill tribes of Laos or Vietnam or Cambodia,” Gulbraa said. “It’s an honor to be able to interact with the cultures across the world.”
He often connects with people through food.
“I connect at the simple levels … breaking bread with people of different cultures and enjoying the foods they enjoy in the way they enjoy them,” he said. “There’s just so much to connect over, whether it’s the cultures, the food or certain etiquettes."
In his travels, he has found happiness throughout the world.
“People around the world are just generally happy in their circumstances,” Gulbraa said. “They don’t have the 85-inch TV or the Mercedes SUV … they might have a mud hut with two rooms and four wives and six kids, and they are happy.”
Each trip teaches Gulbraa something new.
“I don’t think there’s a trip that I don’t come home from saying I learned something new, not only about myself, but about the culture I’m interacting with and about photographing people,” Gulbraa said.
He hopes his art helps viewers see cultures, wildlife and landscapes they wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.
“That’s my motivation,” Gulbraa said. “To show the beauty of the world, some of the differences in cultures, and to tell a little bit of the story of the person or the animal.”
Gulbraa feels that students should explore the world beyond the culture they know.
“Students need a better education in what’s really out there culturally and what’s in the world when it comes to how people live, how they survive, how they interact, and how happy they are,” Gulbraa said.
Each photograph is a story that reflects nature, culture or the people who call each place home.
For Gulbraa, photography is only part of the story.
“It’s just as important to give back; it’s not all about going and capturing the image and saying thank you,” Gulbraa said. "There’s an element of giving back to the local communities."
His company donates a portion of its profits to charities in the places they visit.
Gulbraa has been working with the orphanage in Tanzania for the past 15 years, providing hygiene packs, backpacks, clothes and school supplies.
He aims to help the people they meet fulfill their dreams.
“It is important ... helping others expand their possibilities, particularly when it comes to education, and know what can help you make a better life for yourself,” Gulbraa said.
He feels the importance of giving back behind the camera because it can really make a difference.
“A dollar to us can’t even buy a Snickers … a dollar to folks in Southeast Asia or Africa can be the difference between eating for a couple of days or not,” Gulbraa said. “It’s the small things that matter in everybody’s lives.”
Gulbraa has explored the world, learned from its people and places, shared its beauty through his lens and given something back in return.
