About Us
A picture of us in the Sahara
Seth
I’m a political philosopher at the university of Oxford, and a photographer. I submitted my D.Phil. in January 2009, and in February I passed my viva. So I’m now Dr. Lazar. My research is on the ethics of war, and the role that associative duties–duties owed to people with whom we share special relationships–might play in war. I’m interested in the moral significance of things like love, friendship, and camaraderie, and what can or should be done to protect them. In September I’m going to take up a research position with the institute for the Ethics and Law of Armed Conflict, at Oxford. I’ve published a few articles, and with some more forthcoming. And once I’ve done some more work on it, I’ll hopefully publish my thesis too. You can read more about my academic work here.
Besides all that, I’m also a professional photographer; I combine freelance travel photography with my own business, selling prints of Oxford in local shops, and from my website, Oxford Panoramas. My travel photography can be seen at my new website, www.sethlazar.com. I had a pretty long phase of only being interested in landscape pictures, but lately I’ve become more comfortable with portraits. For a slideshow of my recently uploaded work click here. And for a slideshow of my best work click here.
Sometimes I feel like I’m leading three lives at once. A philosopher, a photographer, and a traveller. A bit like Marx said–hunter in the morning, fisherman in the afternoon, and critic in the evening (something like that). My main travel inspiration has come from Lu, though when I was 18 I set out to Zimbabwe on my own, where I worked teaching English literature in a boarding school for a year, and hitch-hiked around the region. In total I make it 45 countries that I’ve visited so far (more in Asia than in Europe…). I’m hoping this trip will take us up to the magic half century. Here’s a map of the places I’ve been (create your own here):
Lu
I’m a human being, almost 5 foot 9, 28 years wiser than the day I was born, equipped of a mind that’s prone to wondering and size 8 feet that are prone to wandering. I view travel as my primary source of education post-school days, and this year is actually the tenth anniversary of my first round the world trip; a three month stint in Australia, Fiji, Japan and China with my good friend Jojo in 1999. Since then I have become ‘curiouser and curiouser,’ and the wanderlust shows no sign of abating and perhaps becomes classified as acute as Seth and I venture off on this, our biggest challenge to date.
I always write about my travels, and have a shelf full of journals and one manuscript, ‘An Asian Alphabet’, penned after our 2004 mission along the same lines. I’m currently two thirds of the way through a second book, an as yet untitled piece about the 88 temple pilgrimage I walked last summer in Japan, an unforgettable 800 mile journey of snakes, mountains, temples, storms, shrines and local characters, shot through with echoes of ancient traditions and modern day Buddhist rituals.
To Africa, I will be carrying many notebooks and pens, an open mind and heart, about a gallon of excitement, a small vial of apprehension, a milk bottle sized dose of cautiousness tempered by a litre of enthusiasm, and a Gameboy.
visited 38 states