Nov. 1999
President's
Message
WIEP Report
Portrait of ...
Article: Malaysia - Highrises and Headhunters
Malaysia - High-rises and Headhunters
- Gloria Coe
Malaysia, a world of mind-boggling contrasts,
was our destination for a 9-day photography mentor workshop tour in September.
The trip, sponsored by American Photo magazine, Rollei camera, and the
Malaysian Tourist Board, provided two "mentors" in the person of Lou Jones
, a Boston-based commercial and art photographer, and Antonin Kratochvil,
award-winning documentary photo-journalist and a native of Czechoslovakia.
Our group also consisted of 21 "students" and three leaders plus local
guides.
After a 19-hour flight on Malaysian airlines, we arrived at our five-star Marriott hotel in Kuala Lumpur at midnight. The 12-hour time difference left us groggy, and our "killer" itinerary (up before dawn the first morning and most mornings thereafter) left little time for recovery. However, adrenalin flowed freely and kept us going. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city, provided our first experience with the country’s stunning mix of new and old. Our dawn visit on the first day to an outdoor market was an experience in color, sound, smell, and taste—and a photographer’s delight. The people seemed happy to be photographed and gave us ample subjects to choose from. Walking around the city later allowed us to see the strikingly modern skyscrapers that dominate the skyline and contrast so strongly with the old market and the lack of a continuous sidewalk system. Each building or business provides whatever it wishes with the result that beautiful brick-inlayed walks may end in broken cement or, sometimes, treacherous deep gutters.
Later in the morning, we were treated to slide shows by Lou and Antonin with discussions of their photographic philosophies. These two were also a study in contrasts. Lou works primarily with a large crew and complicated set-ups in urban America, while Antonin is a one-man show who has gone into such countries as Angola, Guyana, Columbia, and Rwanda, sometimes risking his life to get his gritty and moving black-and-white shots.
The rest of our first day spent in Kuala Lumpur included visits to a butterfly farm, orchid and hibiscus gardens, a model shoot at a Chinese Temple, and a Malaysian cultural performance accompanied by a buffet featuring local cuisine. The performers posed for us afterwards.
Before leaving for the island of Borneo in the province of Sarawak, we spent one more day on the main island, visiting the Cameron Highlands, the location of rolling acres of tea plantations and picture-worthy tea-workers in their company housing area. A roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding lunch in a half-timbered house right out of Dickens was almost a surreal experience in that location but the food was great.
Our early plane (Malaysia Airlines) on Tuesday took us to Kuching, Borneo ( whose name means "cat city") in the province of Sarawak, where we stayed in luxury again at the Hilton. After a welcome from the Sarawak Tourism Board and another lecture and slide presentation by our mentors, we visited a nearby fishing village, colorful with gaily painted houses and boats. A walking tour of Kuching and later, a sunset shoot of the beautiful waterfront from the roof of a local hotel left us photographically replete.
The next day we left for a long bus ride—to the end of the road—and then a river trip by native longboat to the longhouse village of Serubah, where we were to spend two days and a night. The villagers are Iban, a tribe among a group of indigenous peoples called the Dayak. On the bus trip, we had the chance to shoot at two rest stops where marketplaces presented interesting subjects. The foodstuffs being sold were among the most fascinating—tiny little smoked fish to eat like peanuts, squid pieces on a stick, durian fruit (natives say it "smells like hell, tastes like heaven!)
The Iban village was very primitive. It was hard to remember the Hilton and the Marriott. Our quarters were in the "guest house", a worn wooden structure built on stilts offering outhouse amenities only, although there were a few unreliable generator-operated fluorescent lights strung up here and there that were on for a few hours at night. Access was gained by mounting logs which were propped against the wide porches and had only roughhewn "steps"--a challenge for westerners, especially older ones! Our native hosts were very friendly and allowed us freedom to roam the village with our cameras. After a rather tasty dinner, we were entertained by native dancers in the main longhouse where we were also provided with quantities of homemade rice wine (sweet and tasty). Crafts made by the villagers were displayed and we had a chance to see some souvenirs from the old days, including bags of dried human heads hanging from the longhouse rafters. One of my more memorable experiences was bumping my head against a skull while walking through the dimly-lit area! Sleeping accommodations were mattresses covered with mosquito-netting. We slept well, only slightly bothered by the fact that our hosts were reformed (we hoped) headhunters who might be tempted by our quite available noggins. After a torrential rain, which began during the night and continued into the morning, our group, all heads still attached, had a chance to try out our ponchos and plastic bag camera covers in order to shoot villagers going about their daily chores, hunting, planting, washing clothes, weaving, carving, etc. Bamboo blow guns, often using poisoned darts, are still used for hunting and the village chief gave us a demonstration. Karl had a chance to try his lung capacity—and proved that he could kill a leaf at 20 paces! Lunch was served at the site of the new longhouse which is being built by the villagers. A number of the women had set up their looms in the half-built structure and they presented excellent photographic subjects, as did the men who prepared a traditional barbecue for us over a large open fire. This included "bamboo chicken", cooked inside bamboo stalks—a truly delicious treat served on large leaf "dishes". Luncheon entertainment was by a village gamelan ensemble and we were invited to join the villagers in dancing to the rhythms. We were not eager to leave when the longboats arrived to take us back down the river.
The second night in the area was spent back in luxury at the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, which bore no resemblance to the real longhouse and wasn’t half as interesting. Our trip back to Kuching on Friday got us there in time for some last-minute shots of the town before we flew to Kuala Lumpur for our final day.
Karl was among the few tired photographers who got up early on the Saturday to photograph KL’s pride, the Petronas Towers, the tallest buildings in the world. Later, we were treated to final slide sessions from our mentors and a buffet lunch with local photographers. Each of us later met individually with a mentor for a critique of our work (we had a few rolls of film developed locally). A late night Malaysia Air flight took us back to Newark—tired but glad we’d had a chance to see and photograph this most amazing and confusing country. Fabulous architecture, efficient and modern roadways, and the future site of Bill Gates "information highway"—coexisting with primitive villagers who still hunt with poisoned darts and live as they have lived for centuries. It is a photographic wonderland and we profited from the mentor format.