Matthew O'Toole's Page

Hello and welcome to my page. I am a photographer living in the Northwest, currently studying an HNC at Liverpool Community College. I have a serious interest in travel photography and I when I finish my studies I am hoping to travel extensively with my camera. I have a project that I mean to undertake which involves travelling to specific destination - places of particular spiritual interest to myself. I have a list of destinations that I consider to be sacred locations, and I am hoping to catch the majesty and aura of these sites.

It is something of a spiritual journey for me as I intend to visit these places with a view to developing my spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional well being - a kind of pilgrimage if you like. I will be visiting sites of spiritual importance from all forms of religious belief and spiritual practice. My particular interest will from the Neolithic onwards. My photographs will hopefully reflect my journey and my progress into healing and the unknown.

This project developed from a trip to Nepal I made in the spring of 2007 - a childhood desire to see Everest was my motivation for the excursion. I unfortunately got rained off from trekking in the Himalayas and didn't get to see Everest, but did do a short eight day trek in the Annapurna region and saw the Machhapuchhre or Fishtail Mountain instead (said to be the abode of the God Shiva).

I will next be travelling to Peru to trek through from Machu Picchu to the Nascar lines which will be the real start to the project. I will also be visiting Mexico after that during the festival of the Day of the Dead and particularly the Toltec, Mayan, and Aztec ruins and temples throughout Mexico. I will also at some point be returning to Nepal to fullfil my ambition of seeing Everest and hopefully also Tibet.