My Best Shot

“What struck me was how often you’ll have an encounter that won’t even include words. You’re just eye to eye,” says Santa Monica resident Shannon Clements, who took this photo in July while trekking up to 14,400 feet on Zanskar, a subsidiary mountain range of the Himalayas in India. Village children peered into her tent with wonder, showing a fascination with all things foreign. After Clements snapped this shot, the girl in the photo borrowed the camera so she could take pictures for the first time. Says Clements: “Her sheer joy of using the camera was awesome.”