Monday, July 28, 2008

Indonesia Trip, July 13-25, 2008

I was honored to invited by the United Nations Developement Program (UNDP) to a training for trainers workshop for community media practitioners, in Porong, Indonesia . I am back to two of my other passions, videography and community work.

The villagers of Porong, amounting to around 15,000 people have been almost permanently displaced from their homes because of a mudflow that was triggered by a gas mining company called Lapindo in 2006. The mudflow has not stop flowing since then, overflowing into the villager's rice fields and homes, hence losing their homes and livelihood. Communities were resettled in temporary shelters like market places and in tents. Their demands, so far, has not been met or compensated fairly. We empowered members of the community to make their own documentary to tell their story, which was later shown to the Indonesian media and other NGOs

Sze Ning and me at Pasar Baru, one of the bigger resettlements.



At Kaliandra Sejati, the resort that hosted us. This was taken at a lookout where we did our morning Yoga, yep I'm into that now.



Lunch was all organic, plus these glasses of water on every table.




View of Kaliandra Sejati, where culture meets nature. 850 meters above sea level on the slopes of Mt. Arjuna.




Ime, one of the most articulate woman I know.



Me meditating after our yoga session.



Street food...heavenly food. Bakso.


Kids fooling around in front of my camera.


Caught this photo of this small boy while waiting to do an interview.


Mamak and me. Mamak is a master video editor with plenty of shortcuts up his sleeves.




Trip back to the mudflow site with the community. A lot of emotions.











SUPOR FM (Suara Porong) with DJ Abid. Community radio with 5 kilometer radius.




Introducing video to the community




2nd Screening to community




With the other trainers after the 3rd screening of the communities video.




Jakarta Photos

This is with Kiki, an old college mate.



Series of photos taken at a very nice restaurant, forgot the name but should be the one on the Menu. Thats Dwi in the background, Nikon D80 user.





Saturday, July 12, 2008

Lena & Peter's Wedding, Kota Kinabalu

I was honored to be asked by my friend, Lena, to take photographs of her church wedding, working alongside Suchen, another photographer. I really enjoyed taking photos of the couple and their friends. During their dinner reception, I was told that I didn't have to take photos, but you know lah, at the back of my head, "Eh, what if something great happens...the moment!" So, I ended up taking the whole event, of which I enjoyed immensely.

Lena and Peter, congratulations!

























Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Press Visit to Gayana Eco Resort

I had the chance to visit Gayana Eco Resort again this week. I was there on assignment for Breeze a couple of months ago for a shoot. Anyway, this time round, I was with about 20 other members of the press, and 1 activist. Having come here before, I basically knew what to shoot, but after all the photography, we found out that the resort already had photographs on hand pass to the press, so I guess I was just there to shoot for my personal archive. I would like to thank my new 'sparring' buddy, Nila, for being my impromptu model while in the spa. Also thanks to the staff of the resort for being such great hosts.























Friday, July 4, 2008

Boys will be boys!

Had a chance to go out of town this week with my good friend, videographer Paul Masudal. He had to do a short shoot in Kota Belud, so I joined in for the ride, since I kinda knew my way around there. While in the kampung, we passed a primary school and I spotted 4 boys with their books on their heads, obviously being punished. I whipped out my camera, switched my 17-50mm to a 70-200mm and snapped a frame as the boy was smiling at us.


Yes, boys with their expensive toys. Paul with his Canon XH-A1 HD.