SARA, Europe Travel Plans & MacDaddy Status…
Hi Hi,
It’s 4:15AM, Wednesday. I know I promised to publish on Tuesday, but I simply could not because I could not think how to begin to talk about SARA.
I said I would talk about SARA (ethnic/race, religion, and racism) but it seems to be extremely complex (too complex for my brain, anyway) and VERY sensitive. Better I leave that topic alone!
Letter to Rod:
Christi Wrote: ”Hi. I’m a photographer. I am traveling to Bali in August, and thought to go to Java and see Borobudur. Have you been there? Do you think it is worth the extra money to see the place?”
Rodney: I’ve been asked by a number of people this. Actually, I have been to Borobudur! If you have the money, I’d definitely go to visit it. I went with a friend and her family during Lebaran Holiday (Idul Fitri). I was very worried about how to properly photograph the place, as there are just so many wonderful photos already. I did manage to get two that I’ve not seen before. here’s one now, with the temples in silhouette and the setting sun directly behind the temples.
I loved the place, and extremely grateful for my friend’s brother taking the time to drive us there to see it! It is majestic, and fascinating. You will be glad you visited!
But, strangely, my biggest memory of Borobudur is not the temple, but the escape from there! When leaving, you must walk for over 20min through a maze of tiny shacks and shops trying to sell tourist trinkets! There is only one exit, and you are forced to walk through the maze which twisted and turned left or right every 10 or 20 meters. The entire time, you are pressure sold to by the vendors. Also it is extremely hot and sun is beating down on your head (this is intentional, and this the drinks are almost 3x the normal price!). It was a horrible end.
I climbed up, down, and back up Borobudur two times, and was not as tired as I was during that long walk through that tourist-trap maze of shops! After we finally got out, we had to get drinks (and shock, they were only 1/3 the price of the drinks in the maze-o-death! :p
Mac Daddy:
My office is giving me a MacBook Pro, Max’ed out (meaning, the highest available processor, max amount of RAM, etc). I only opted for the 15.4in instead of the 17in (which only has a larger screen, and 1 extra USB port, but also extra weight). Niceeee…. The Evil Twin will purchase my current MacBook, named Merlin.
*~ Hmm, What To Name The New MacBook Pro? ~*
Maybe I will keep the name Merlin for the new laptop, and make her give the old MacBook a new name of her own choosing. I can’t wait to get the new laptop! I will be sure to bring it to Singapore at the end of the month. (I’ve a presentation to prepare). A friend said “you’re becoming a MacHead, you’re a MacDaddy!”
I’m not sure if this is true or not, or good or not… hmmm
I’m bugging the purchasing dept to please get it by end of the week, and to get it at IBox or E-Store, so I get the free wireless mouse (the Apple MightyMouse). I already have a wireless MightMouse, but if I get the free one, The Evil Twin gets to have one. She also gets all my MacBook Accessories (the cases, etc) because they wont fit the new laptop (which is slightly wider and longer in size). Maybe her sis will steal some of them. :p
Travel:
Speaking of work, I am leading a team of 5 to Amsterdam and London in September! I can’t wait to see what Singapore Airline’s Business Class is like. I heard it is very very good! I can use the frequent flyer miles to hehehe.
Projects:
I’m stuck. I am thinking I need a translator to go with me for this project. Hoping The Evil Twin’s brother is still interested in working with me.
Also, I am stilllll writing that paper for the Health Dept. I need to give more priority to it so it gets done before my birthday this month!
Ok, that is all for now. Please take care!
Hodgepodge of Hindsight…
Hi!
As promised, I’m posting today (Saturday) on time! I’ve been accused in the past of easily making promises, and not keeping them, so I want to correct myself, and try to keep my word going forward.
There are a few emails I want to address. Like last time, I begin with the easy ones, and work my way to the more complex ones.
Letter #1
Michelle asks: “Hello. I like your blog’s humor. The photography is great! What was the hardest photo project you’ve worked on, and why?”
Rodney: The hardest by far was the photo essay and reportage titled “Exploring The Underground World of Sex Workers.” It was difficult because I was shooting in near total darkness, with no flash or tripod! Additionally, most of the men did not want to be there when seeing a guy with a huge lens, so I had to shoot wide angle, moving in the dark as fast as possible, and quietly as possible (very hard for a fat guy to walk silently on a squeaking floor of woven bamboo slithers!). It is extremely difficult to get sharp photos in this situation!
Letter #2
Jamal asks: “Do you find discrimination there based on religion, since most there are Muslim? I’m assuming you are not Muslim, since you come from the United States, where most are Christian.”
Rodney: I’ve never found discrimination here. If anything, I’ve had more issues with Christians here than the Muslims! I won’t go into details here, but you’d be shocked. I’m still washing “anointing oil” out of my dress shirt (which is hard to find here in my size) from a Christian trying to rid me of evil. In the future, I will write a blog about “SARA” (4 items that should never be discussed, in general public, here in Indonesia).
Letter #3
Amanda asks: “I would like to see more color photos of just different things and people. Photos not associated to each other.”
Rodney: OK! This is why this post is called “Hodgepodge!” I’m posting a hodgepodge of photos from different places and genre.
This photo was taken in Kota (old area of Jakarta). Kota is full of old, Dutch buildings, and still has a wonderful gothic feel to the place. It is also a very popular location for pre-wedding photos, such as this one. The photographer was sort of pissed at me that I was there, and got this shot of this soon-to-be-married couple. I love their pose, as if all is in ruins, and they are about to kill each other!
This photo reminds me of the title of a Bjork song: “Violently Happy” *~ LOL ~*
This next photo was taken at a Mental Rehabilitation Center. The patients here had a range of mental disabilities due to several reasons: from drug use, to physical head trauma.
Some individuals have interesting stories.
- One guy was an expert martial artist, who trained police officers in combat skills. He was giving a demonstration of how to defend yourself against a baseball bat wielding opponent. But, the assistant swung full strength before the man was ready, hitting him in the head and causing permanent brain damage.
- Another person there is a woman who simply had a hard time coping with the world. She spends her time walking the length of the central floor, counting the tiles, over and over all day. The resident assistants told me they’ve had to take her to the doctor on several occasions because of foot injuries.
- One other patient is very unique: he is an elder man, but I found he was once one of the original doctors who worked at the facility! Now he is a patient there!
This photo is of two friends.
This next photo was taken with the Bethel English Service church group who treated an orphanage to a fun day. This is the flying fox ride, where you are suspended over 80m off the ground, and traveling at a fast speed from the top of one cliff to the ground. She seems to be having fun!
This photo was shot in Yogyakarta, in the mountains of Semin (I need to check my notes on this part). I really like her smile and attitude. She seems very nice.
This last photo is also in Yogyakarta, in the rice fields. I love the colors, and represents the theme of Yogyakarta pretty well.
Bahasa Indonesia Lesson for Today:
Macam-macam: Hodgepodge (a heterogeneous mix or jumble)
Melihat Kebelakang: Hindsight (recognition events or situations that occurred in the past)
Ok, Take Care!
Demo Gods and Runaway Freight Trains…
Ok, I’m typing fast: don’t cringe at my typos, bad grammar or composition (you should be used to these by now hahaha). I am dead tired, and I am fighting a cold (so far it’s a 50/50 battle).
These last few days have been VERY BUSY. Reviewing photos, reworking photos, resizing photos, new sharpening routines for optimal results for various visual media. I also bought anew low-tech tech toy: a Mini DVI to VGA cable that allows my hyper-sexy MacBook to use a 2nd visual graphics device like a 2nd monitor.
I’ve been VERY BUSY because my photographic career has been gathering more and more momentum. If my photographic career has energy, that energy is changing from potential to kinetic energy!
Even more, my photographic work is turning into a perpetual energy machine; fueling itself with the energy needed to continue. My Photographic work and efforts have taken on the exponentially increasing momentum of a runaway freight train! I feel like an engineer trying to keep my train on the tracks, despite the twists and turns.
*~ And So Far I Am Successfully Keeping My Train On Track! ~*
Today I gave a presentation to the Indonesian Government. Running a slide show to display photographs using an InFocus projector, I turned into what Bill Gates (of Microsoft, of course!) calls “The Demo God:” a person who knows his product, and the needs of his client so well, failure is impossible.
For days, I narrowed thousands of photos down to a very select body of work, specific to their project needs. The presentation went *~ extremely ~* well. The directors seemed highly impressed, and (even better) seemed to like every photo presented to them for their use. Not only are they going to purchase far more photos than I had thought, they asked for additional photos for a separate project as well!
*~ AND THEY ACCEPTED MY PRICE! Hmmm, maybe I should have asked for more? ~*
Now now, do not bother to ask my price. I tailored the price based on a number of factors: rarity of the photos (as no other photographer has them, that I am aware of) the time and effort to obtain the photographs (going to Kalimantan, to remote areas of the island, including to Dayak tribes), the fact the photos are being used for books, brochures, government reports and web, etc., etc. Anyway, I can say this: I should more than double my salary for Jan 2008 (based on my teacher’s salary), even more depending on how many other photos they want from the next set (see below).
The director also inquired about a possible exhibition… (more to come about this later…)
Anyway, I’m alive and well. I need to thank my friend, KiKi, for helping me narrow down the selection to a razor sharp group. We spent days editing and reworking the photos.
*~ Hmmm, maybe I should pay her an assistant’s fee? NO WAY! Silly me! (j/k) ~*
Time to get back to work. I must finish another batch of photos (showing samples of housing in poor areas). I tried to finish this batch today at StarBucks, but some files were on the backup drive, so I was forced to wait to be home. fun fun fun
*~ YES I do backups of EVERY digital asset! ~*
Bahasa Indonesia Lesson for Today: none. too busy to learn more *~ cry ~*
Take care, and wish me further luck. So far 2008 is starting off good.
*~ Rodney ~*
Busy as a Bee!
I know I’ve been away from this blog for a while. Simply put: I’M HELL-A-BUSY!
More and more opportunities are falling into place for my aspiring photographic career. The last two weeks have been spent on holiday! The Indonesian government (and thus businesses) gave us a week off for Idul Fitri. For a week I was in Yogyakarta and in Semin. Of course many photos were taken, but one subproject came out of it: a reportage about a 70 year old lady named Mak Muga. She reminds me (and hopefully will remind you) that life is what we perceive it to be, regardless how difficult it is sometimes.
“Waiting for God”
Part of an eight photo series titled Waiting of God. The reportage is focused on the past and present life of 70 year old Mak Muga.
Mak Muga (“Mak” is Javanese for “old lady”) is a sweet, jovial, always-smiling, 70 years old woman. She lives alone in Sambisari, Kalasan, Yogyakarta where she carves out a meager living buying raw melinjo, pounding it into emping, then frying it to make emping chips to sell to travelers a few times a week. The tiny, feather weight, barely 5 feet tall lady with willow-like arms somehow finds the needed strength to perform this strenuous labor in inferno-like heat and humidity.
Mak Muga used to be married with one son. Her unmarried son was an aspiring artist who used colored pigments made from fruit, but died tragically and unexpectedly. Her husband passed away next. Mak Muga then took care of her parents until their eventual passing away.
Despite having to endure many heartbreaking tragedies she maintains a positive attitude. Through a proud, snaggle-toothed smile of dark brown stained teeth she laughs and says “I’m thankful for the life I have, even though I am alone. Now I’m just waiting for God.”
This reportage will be one of 3 photographic projects I want to complete by December 1. The second project focuses on sincere happiness and contentment despite poverty (you’ve seen photos from that series already). The third project will be based on Kalimantan (Sorry, I can’t go into deep details about this yet: it’s a secret! Shhhh!).
What’s next for me? I will go to Kalimantan for 8 days! It should be an amazing trip. I will try to stay alive! I will keep you informed.
*~ Special Note! ~*
Bahasa Indonesia Lesson for Today:
Masuk Angin: (literally wind enter) easy sickness, like get the sniffles or cough for no reason.
Take care!
Paradoxes and Parasites
Hello,
Yes, I’m still alive. Over the last few weeks I’ve survived fungus spores and parasites! I need to tell this country’s street vendors they need to try harder if they want to kill me!
*~ Dear Street Vendors: I’m bullet proof. Next time bring Kryptonite! — Superman ~*
I spent a good part of the last few weeks (and $) going to SOS clinic (a VERY good place ran by Western medical standards). I’m pretty much normal now.
I’m writing this blog from in the un-air conditioned lobby of a new hotel (just opened today!) in Yogyakarta, central Java.
The holiday is Lebaran (Idul Fitri). I am traveling in Yogakarta and Semin to explore the kampungs here, and to add to my current photographic projects. So far I’m off to a very slow start, but I think I will gain back some lost ground (sorry for all the American slang) starting Saturday morning. We lost a full day because of HUGE traffic jams. The driver has driven in past years during Idul Fitri, so he was aware of the traffic conditions, but this year (according to him) is the worst it has ever been. It took us 6 (YES SIX) hours to travel the distance normally requiring only one hour. We were to arrive in Yogyakarta at about 10AM Thursday (we left 10PM Wednesday night) to end a 12 hour journey. Instead, we arrive at about 1:45AM FRIDAYYYY.
So Friday is a lost day. We also had to change hotels to find better one with lower rate. I will go to Semin tomorrow, after an early morning of making photos in Yogyakarta kampungs. I do more photo creating in Semin on Sunday morning. Monday is pegged for Borobudur. Tuesday purely for making photos. We drive back to Jakarta Wednesday morning.
*~ Update: I won’t shoot Saturday. I injured my foot during the 27 (YES 27!) hour car ride. Pain Pain Pain. It hurts to bend the toes. I will use Sat to plan more for Semin. So, for 7 days, only shooting 2 cryyyyy. ~*
I’ve been to East Java (Malang and Lawang) and Jakarta is in the West. Now that I am in Central Java, I can say I have had a ‘taste’ of what Javanese people are like. There are some big differences, in my opinion, between the 3 regions’ peoples. I won’t go into it here, but I will tell some of you in private. *~ smile ~*
Anyway, I now need your help and advice:
I have two photos of two adorable little girls, I’m not sure which I like best. Please tell me what you like in each. The first is so innocent, and represent a vision of how I see kampungs: harsh environments with sweet, sometimes innocent people. The 2nd photo represents how innocence can cloud one’s judgment, leaving one vulnerable and at the mercy of others (as can be seen from that ominous hand reaching out of nowhere in picture #2).
*~ Anyway, which do you like more, and why ~*
The Kampung Paradox
Jakarta, Indonesia
Quite often kampungs (neighborhood villiages) are a paradox: Hard, unyielding rock walls,
old cracked brick and layered grounds of broken slate, razor sharp glass and sharp pebbles
Vs.
The soft, tender, innocent smiles of curious children
The Buddy System
Jakarta, Indonesia
Little children raised in the West are taught to always swim with a buddy because unseen, life threatening dangers can exist in even the most familiar places. If one buddy is in danger the other could provide help. The buddy system does not always work; sometimes both buddies will lose their lives.
The two innocent girls—the smaller one bravely leading her bigger, more apprehensive buddy—may know every corner of their kampung, but do not recognize the very real danger of following a stranger into a dark, isolated corner of jagged, sound-proofing rock and stone. Evil could strike like a hidden snake to grab one or both of them. The only frail evidence would be their unheard screams which would quickly disappear without a trace against uncaring stone.
Bahasa Indonesia Lesson For Today:
Macet: Traffic Jam!!!!
Ok, Take care and be good