Balinese Hindus pray on the beach in a ceremony honoring Nyai Loro Kidul, the Javanese goddess of the South Sea, who has a room permanently kept for her at a hotel on the beach.

My multi-talented buddy, Darren McCollester, has just written a book “All the Kennedys are Dead”. Its a scorchingly honest look at the slings and arrows experience of being a freelance photojournalist as the news business contracts.  A series of vignettes and journals which come together, in my mind, in the unlikely and delightful form of a photo essay without photos.  Darren’s eye for the dramatic and telling detail, hilarious, touching and at times poetic make this book a lovely read.  I highly recommend it for anyone who freelances or wants to and for anyone that wants to be introduced to a wry, thoughtful, and adventurous voice.  I hope he writes some more.

Mythical beings during filming for the brilliant multi-media theatrical production “Hanomon – The Ultimate Warrior” by Mirwan Suwarso about Hanuman the monkey god who features in many Javanese legends

 

From a story about Vingki, a 14 year old Jakarta youth who left school to help support his parents by working as a bus conductor

A guard provides ceremonial protection for rice effigies during a procession prior to their being sacrificed the following day

Part of an ongoing project.  This ritual sacrifice of rice effigies takes place annually and is linked to a Javanese legend in which a couple were trapped inside the nearby Mount Gamping, whose spirit demanded an annual sacrifice of a bridal couple in return for the safety of the village and the safe continuation of the limestone quarrying going on at the time.

Tuna Fisherman, Manado

Jakarta isn’t easy to love.  There’s the smog, the dust, the lack of sidewalks, and traffic that most city dwellers around the world would just not believe.  BUT…. sometimes when you are out walking, you come across a footpath thats been in use for centuries, the city forming around it, or an insane color that someone has painted a wall, or a great smell or just something you’ve never even imagined; and that makes living here in Jakarta worth it.

I went looking to find a tempe factory to illustrate a point about food (in)security as the price of tempe in Indonesia has rapidly increased due to a major drought in the U.S. (from where Indonesia imports the bulk of its soybeans).  It was a pleasure to find that most of Jakarta’s tempe is made not in a huge impersonal industrial setting but in thousands of small home workshops.

I met this fella at a grave in South Sulawesi. He was the friendliest guy, and of course had the unforgettable smile.