We are off on another multi-month, multi-country adventure. We started this trip by visiting two friends, JT and Betty, who moved from Cuenca, Ecuador earlier this year. We met them in Buenos Aires, and spent a couple nights in this cosmopolitan city of 15 million, before driving the 6 hours to their home in Los […]
ShakaCon Backstage
We were asked to photograph another charity photo event last Wednesday night at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There were five different categories we were asked to document. This was the second event we helped on the Shaka Project, which is making a documentary on the origin and history of the shaka, a Hawaiian gesture of […]
Indonesia 24 – Toraja 3 – Bamboo Orchestra
We spent several early mornings getting into position to photograph the sunrises over various volcanos. When doing that, you are at the mercy of the weather, and sometimes you get a beautiful photograph, and other times a bust. Here is a sunrise overlooking terraced rice fields at Batumonga, Toraja in South Sulawesi. After the sun […]
Indonesia 23 – Toraja 2 – Raising the Dead
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First off, we apologize for the amount of text in this blog post. Please read it all though. Torajan funerals are very complicated affairs that are likely completely foreign to anything you have ever seen or even considered. Without understanding some of this background, none of the photos or video will make sense. Funerals in […]
Indonesia 17 – Java 7 – Ramayana Ballet
We frequently appreciate seeing the cultural activities of the countries we visit. While in Java, Indonesia, we attended the masterful Ramayana Ballet in Yogyarkarta, which is considered a highly stylized dance form. This Javanese ballet combines music, dance and drama, and is performed outdoors with the base of the ancient Prambanan Temple as the back […]
Indonesia 16 – Java 6 – Bromo Village
After we were refused entry to the Yadnya Kasada Festival, we searched for alternative activities, since we could not enter the festival boundaries. The local guide asked permission for us to attend the Reception Night, where East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, the first woman governor in Java, would be attending. She was being inaugurated […]
Indonesia 16 – Bali 8 – Balinese Dance
There are at least 3,000 different original types of dance forms in Indonesia. We saw the Barong and Legong Dance performed by the Panca Arhta Troupe from the Mahabharata at the Ubud Palace in Bali. The dances usually depict stories of the characters fighting evil gods or demons from Hindu scripture. Some characteristics of Balinese […]
Indonesia 15 – Bali 7 – Galungan Day
Galungan is a Balinese holiday celebrating the victory of dharma over adharma or the triumph of good over evil. Praying at the temple is the climax of Galungan Day. The people put on their finest traditional clothes and go to the temple with their families to pray and bring offerings to share. Early in the […]
Indonesia 13 – Bali 5 – More Karya Agung Temple Ceremony
An Odalan or temple ceremony usually lasts for three days, but larger ones, which occur every 5, 10, 30 or 100 years, can last for 11 days or longer. This is one of the larger celebrations that occurs every 30 years, called Karya Agung, or “Great Ritual,” and was held at the Pura Puseh Temple at Tulikup […]
Indonesia 12 – Bali 4 – Karya Agung Temple Ceremony
Bali is known as the land of a thousand puras or temples. The reality is there are up to 20,000, since every family also has their own private temple. The Karya Agung temple celebration is a significant event at the 30 year point, in which they ask the gods to come down and join them. […]