Faces of Java

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Indonesia | Wednesday, August 11, 2010 | 5 photos

My first love is People. Not to forget their stories. This is what moves me to travel. Photography to me is that moving window which, depending on the mood of day, opens from a shy slit to the widest of welcomes to show me a new world each day.

My most recent trip was to the island of Java in Indonesia. From its early Hindu and Buddist beginnings to its Moslem present, Java remains culturally diverse.

My photos are of People. Backgrounds may assist in the setting of the story I wish to tell but my focus is always on the subject at hand. The human face is an epic tale in itself, supplemented by the language of the body, say the way one foot is placed on another, the tilt and angle of the chin, or how the arms are extended, bent or unbent at the elbow, all these adds to the story.

From this last trip to Java, I have experienced the warmest of welcomes. I have received love and have learnt to give love without suspicion or judgement. These are my portraits