The House where time stopped Photo

Photographer’s Note

Me & the Ibans again...

The Long House chief's wife invited us to visit the family private rooms : ie. if you've followed the whole story, the rooms behind the 30 doors you see from the lobby.

The guide told us that if everything was going ok with the Ibans, someone would show us their private rooms, I was so eager to see what the inside of an Iban family house could look like.

I knew they had a power generator, they then had electricity at least at night, and I'd heard many travelers from the Rejang country saying that they were disappointed to see satellite dishes, VHS players and KungFu movies in the Iban houses. I also read O'Hanlon's "Into the heart of Borneo", (a book that EVERY traveler should read even if Borneo's not the trekking point), so I was ready for the modern truth, for the DVD players or any all integrated karaoke.

Surprisingly enough, it seemed time had stopped at the entrance of the room. The chief's wife was commenting about her open fire kitchen and open air bathroom, I took a look and a snap at that shelf where most of the family's memorabilia and some parts of M'sia's modern history were displayed.

There were pots and buckets, a photo of a son that was in the city, some posters of M'sia PM Mahattir, an old photo of the chief's wife, a 30 years old BW TV and all sorts of things that when put altogether make the story of a life.

(Tritoned for an intemporal feeling)

freddd, bfly, eelliott305, ianmcall, rabani, Eagle78, hispic has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

hojper (2830) 2004-03-21 15:06

This sure is a showstopper. The thumb jumps out at you and so does the fullsize image. Beautiful light from the right, great composition, the eye just turns and turns between all those delightful related and unrelated items. It reminds me of the first interactive CD-rom I had which was called Highway 61 Interactive about Dylan. It had this beautiful collage that you could click around on forever. In this shot I'd like to click on the TV and the radio and the photo and the buckets and the posters just to hear their stories. Awesome.

freddd (435) 2004-03-21 15:29

Very good feeling in that picture. First it look chaotic but then you discover that every item has its own place, and probably a long history. The texture of light is appealling.

hdl (6735) 2004-03-21 15:48

Good shot. Very original. 2 points more than worth.

bfly (5737) 2004-03-21 15:53

very very good..before everyone writes everything that could be written...and then it is hard to add anything...
it takes moments to see and understand all details...there is life in it..even if not a life I know, I am familiar...thanks...

eelliott305 (776) 2004-03-21 16:24

Wonderful work Luko. You really are a master at this kind of shot. The lighting is superb, lots of interesting dark areas. What I like most are the sepia tones in this shot.

ianmcall (1213) 2004-03-21 18:47

Nice note, but stop teasing us; I want to know what all the kettles are for!

Very effective way to convey that timeless feeling.

gringofil (0) 2004-03-22 0:24

Hey, that boombox looks rather new, wouldn't you say Luko? :-) I like it for the nostalgic look, for the many things to look at, for the tones and the pictures on the wall. But what is missing is the chief himself, standing on the left side of the frame, looking at the camera with something cool in his eye. Basically a human factor is needed. Anyway, good stuff and something different from ya.

maciekda (19587) 2004-03-22 6:15

those things tell a lot of stories, there is so much interesting stuff on this shelf. there wasn't much light there - 1/15s hand held, not bad.. nice and origial picture - fil: human factor needed? what about all those faces then?
there is nothing to complain about here, very moody shot

Darren (6815) 2004-03-22 9:35

This is really nice Luko. Not that you have a lot to choose from, but I think this is my favorite shot of yours which does not include a living, breathing person. To my taste, an actual person is not really needed here. Your toning looks great here, I think it fits the mood quite nicely. I really like the small poster, which is repeated a number of times, it is a very good repetition (strange comparison, but it reminds me of in Bruce Springsteen's album Nabraska, he uses the word "sir" a lot and it is incredibly effective). The details of a simple life are so well shown here Luko, this one is great.

rabani (9421) 2004-03-23 23:12 [Comment]

Show Comment

Steely (895) 2004-03-31 7:55

I like this shot ( dang, i start too many critiques with this sentence )
Its like a time capsule, some might even say a BN Shrine ..nah, I think they used the BN posters as wallpaper...
The Arc of waterkettles on top makes for a really unique framing.

Awwww...comon Luko don't be dissapointed, the Ibans wants to move in time with the rest of us rather then being trapped in time.
They will have the trappings of modern life but they will still have their culture ... be real worried when they decided to invest in a Iban Themepark....

Cheers

Eagle78 (1925) 2004-04-16 13:54

Eh eh! No doubt about that Luko! Wonderful scene with great colors really matching your mood here. A great note too :)

Porteplume (3255) 2004-08-23 12:34

Why do sepia always give that melancholic feeling? more than just B&W. And what is "tritoned"? - I've looked for the word, but if it means "using three tones" I still don't understand.

Well, I like this picture, even more after reading the story behind.
I agree with Frederic, having first thought it was a chaos, but looking more carefully it became almost a very tidy "home museum". I wish I could walk in and look closer...

kaychambers (1196) 2004-09-14 20:28

Greetings Luko,

In Singapore you see shops selling this kinda stuff at optimistically overinflated prices!

What a great image. Well lit, beautifully composed and accompanied by a fantastic note. I've spent that last 10 minutes scrutinising this photograph! Outstanding stuff - Well done.

Regards,

Vic, Singapore

tongapup (1574) 2005-09-15 23:33

This photo has stuck in my head for months. It struck me the first time I saw it. Yes, I am obsessed with modern artifacts... bleached or faded ads and photos in shop windows, that kind of thing. But this photo has such wonderful light, such perfect exposure, I feel as though I am there, smelling woodsmoke and a whiff of pig. The items are arranged so carefully, it pleases the eye.

Finally! I've been meaning to comment on this one since I first discovered TE!

Izobretenik (1264) 2006-06-13 8:18

Le temps est vraiment comme arrêté et je pense que le post-processing s'est révélé utile. Je me demande ce que rend la photo dans un noir et blanc naturel. En tout cas, l'effet sepia qui assombrit les recoins de la pièce de façon marquée apporte encore plus de crédibilité au sujet et à la note que tu as écrite.

Izo