The Tenggerese

 

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I grew up in a mountain area and so have always loved mountains. The quiet, the cold, the solitude, being so close to the clouds has always left me feeling good, so I was really glad to have taken a quick trip to the Bromo volcano and come across the Tenggerese people who live there, up among the cloud banks coming up from the valley and the sulphurous smoke from the Bromo volcano in East Java.  They are living history,  the remaining descendants of the once wealthy and influential  Majapahit kingdom.  It was the last Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist Kingdom before the rise of the Muslim Sultanates which pushed the Majapahit East from Central Java in the 15th century, the majority of the royal court, courtiers, artists fleeing to Bali.

 

Sinabung Volcano

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I love watching volcanos.  Its a wonder to see the earth remake itself, a process that is continual though rarely this dramatic or dangerous.  As beautiful as the sight is, eruptions are terribly dangerous and disruptive to the lives of thousands who live on the shoulders of volcanos.  In this case, it is the Sinabung volcano in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia.  It had been quietly sleeping in Karo since 1600, coming to life again in 2013 when it began its current eruption cycle.  16 people were killed in 2014 and as I write, thousands are living away from their homes in refugee centers and are unable to properly tend their crops.  I hadn’t yet had a chance to come and see this volcano having been busy with other projects and assignments, but made some time to watch it erupting until last week.  I just caught the tail end of an active cycle and made just one frame the night before I left.  I hope to make it back when it becomes more active again.

Ship Breaking in Madura

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Copyright: 2015 Getty Images
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On a recent trip to Indonesia’s Madura Island, I saw this little corner of the island where Madurese practice one of the things they are justifiably famous for, breaking down and selling scrap.

Department of Unscheduled appearances – Kermit the frog

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When you can get up in the morning and go to your demanding and unpleasant job and make the effort to put a “Kermit the Frog Smile” on your face, you definitely deserve a better job.

Rohingya Refugees Shelter in Aceh

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from a recent assignment in Aceh -It could very well have ended up a ghost story. Thousands of souls from the oppressed Rohingya minority in Myanmar and impoverished Bangladeshis doomed to sail the seas in failing boats with limited supplies of food and water with no country willing to accept them; their cries and suffering absorbed by the elements. Thankfully Indonesia and Malaysia have stepped up and said that they will accept them on the condition that they be placed in third countries within a year. I sincerely hope that countries signed on to the UN Convention on refugees take their promises seriously. These people have been through enough.

A Death in Singapore

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After a lengthy hiatus, Indonesia has again started executing prisoners. The uproarious disapproval of much of the International community has been mostly unheeded by Indonesia’s recently elected government. I understand there is a case to be made that drug trafficking can be ruinous to a nation and its people, and that the death penalty may have an impact in curtailing this; But… do we really want to give governments and politicians the power to encroach on our lives in this most personal and individual way. The above pictures are of the family of Vignes Mourthi, the son of poor rubber tappers from Malaysia. He was accused and convicted of bringing a quantity of heroin into Singapore and was executed by hanging. His lost family stumbled about the streets of an unfamiliar city trying to make sense of the following letter which they received from the Government of Singapore:

“Dear Sir,
This is to inform you that the death sentence passed on Vignes S/O Mourthi will be carried out on 26 Sep 2003. You and other family members may visit him from 23 Sep 2003 to 25 Sep 2003. You are advised to make the necessary funeral arrangements. If you are unable to do to so, cremation will be carried out by the state.
For further information please contact…”

I just think there’s already been too much power conceded to governments and politicians in the name of security.

From Instagram – remembrance of things past edition

Any photographer that’s spent time in Jakarta has probably been to this Chinese temple in Jakarta which for hundreds of years has heard the fervent prayers of jakarta’s Chinese community and an equal number of prayers from photographers praying for a great picture. It was badly burnt Monday with the main temple completely destroyed.

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! This Year is the Year of the Goat/Sheep/Ram – Heyyyy three for the price of one Everyone’s a winner