Hens and tattoos Photo

Photographer’s Note

I spend my days in the large common room where my family lives... sometimes the dog comes sleeping against me and barks if ever the hen comes picking too closely.

My dad told me I'm a Iban, it doesn't mean much to me now but I know it will when I'll get older, he told me the story of my mighty ancestors who took lots of heads from their enemies and were respected for that...

I already know a few tricks about plants and animals but in a few years my dad promised me he will teach how to catch the fish in the river and how to mend the nets... He also showed me his tattoos : I can hardly wait to be older to get tattooed one dark flower on the front of each shoulder so that I won't be invisible to the spirits of my ancestors who come running at night in the longhouse or even in my mind when I'm asleep.

I hope we won't be displaced up in the river and will live all my life in this longhouse, then I will marry my Iban wife, have a baby boy, tell him about my ancestors and draw him the tattoos my father, the chief of the longhouse, wore...

Finally when I will dream it, i'll die the next day, my spirit will take a longboat and ride the the river, fortunately other spirits will remember my tattoo and help me go further up where all the mighty Iban warriors of all times have settled.

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..excavating pixels from my hard disk meanwhile...I found that old stuff, shot here along Batang Ai river.

We all start with the same biological assets, only culture and experience makes us different in the end, who would I be now if I had been raised in a longhouse? What would I have thought then?

Can more people advise about the role of tattooing in the Dayak society? Even though I wasn't born a Iban, I'm personally closer minded to this kind of metaphysics than monotheist beliefs... it touches me more...

RandomCameraGuy, sohrab, Roly, smael, hispic, Curioso, christina, shihwei, Kenny10pin, Proxilva, supereira, eleparc, Santi, bfly, michel_r, bnallama has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

sohrab (7423) 2004-09-28 16:20

yippeeee i get to see your new upload at last.
the composition is excellent here. the net is a good part of the composition and i know that ive seen this room before , and also the fishing net i think , in one of your previous posts. did you print this yourself?
thanks a lot for your reply to my mail i'll be mailing you back pretty soon. btw , your note is really nice, but i have no information about the dayak society :(
take care

[2]

Roly (1960) 2004-09-28 16:43

Very evocative grainy image. The little boy stands out beautifully and the story to go with it is really good.

smael (2878) 2004-09-28 16:46

A very interesting perspective in your note Luko, and you show knowledge about these people of Batang Ai!
I'm warmed when people travel like you, being interested in the people you meet...
The picture is great in composition, the hen makes for a nice element, and yet better with the men mending the nets in the background.
Tonally I find the foreground ok, the middle interesting with the light illuminating the net, floor and the hen but the background is too monotone. There's one particular shade of grey reapiting in the floor, man and walls back there. Personally i would've added a bit more contrasts...

Terje

[2]

Curioso (9119) 2004-09-28 17:35

Wouhaou ! Quel pouvoir d'évocation dans ce texte et dans cette photo. On partage un moment intense, à mi-chemin entre l'enfant s'interrogeant sur l'avenir et la place de l'Homme dans le monde. Les filets sont là comme un filtre entre le monde des Hommes et celui des Divinités ;)

Superbe photo et superbe texte Luko ! On adore !

Cat (0) 2004-09-28 17:39

Wonderful documentary image Luko! Excellent composition and the note is fabulous. I have been intrigued by the Iban people as well.

Congratulations on a fine capture!

christina (2040) 2004-09-28 18:02

Great image and note as well. i love the deliate nature of the netting, the figure and hen in the distance, and the gaze of the child. Great photo!

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-09-28 20:32

Great shot, I like the way you have caught this on camera, very good dof, but still it is a bit grainy, well done

Darren (6819) 2004-09-29 0:04

This is a great photo in all regards, except for the fact that the little boy is soft. Probably not much that can be done, given the conditions you were working in, but it is dissappointing for me. Normally, I am a big fan of the big chunky grain, but here it kind of emphasizes the softness. Maybe I am just too much of a sharpness freak. the composition and toning here are really great.

voodoo (77) 2004-09-29 3:12

Very ineresting note...I like the net alot. Awsome DOF. You can hardly make out the person in the background, I like it!!

Proxilva (2157) 2004-09-29 6:09

KKFKFFFFFFFFIIIIIKJFFFFFFFFFFF luuuuk, I'm your father.. KKKKKKKKKKKFFFFFFFIIIIIKWWWWWW...

quess you'v heard that one before, huh....

beautiful photograph, the boy sits like a little child sits when his mother lifted him and plaecd him on the ground to sit, and that is also the look that he produces...big eyes, I didn't do anything wrong mom.

the trianglar compo leads the eye perfectly around the photograph and tell a story (like alll photo's should ;D)...

sorry no info, but i do believe that if the tattoo is an anchor on hischest, it's a sailor, and when it says ' i love betty', he loves Betty. hope that's usefull ;-D

MKING (3050) 2004-09-29 9:36

Can't tell you about the tattoos I'm afraid; the only long house I went to in Malaysia was empty-- not surprising since it was stuck in something called "Mini Malaysia" outside Melaka...

Tonality is good, I'm not sure about the final exposure though-- I think the background could be darker; I expect long houses would be darkish inside. Would also serve to force extra attention on the child without disturbing the trianglar composition formed.

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Hope you get your scanner woes sorted out; must be so very frustrating without it operating.

eleparc (24059) 2004-09-29 11:43

a luko's post is always a special treat for me:-) and the iban! i love this series...

a bit soft in fact as stated by darren, but it does not bother me for it has a context, tells a story, and has an excellent compo...more??

supereira (9576) 2004-09-30 4:37

Wonderful photo!I like the boy expression.Great contrast and texture.Good POV and framing.Great image and note as well.

maciekda (19599) 2004-10-02 5:00

nice one, very good compo with the kid, the chicken and this person at the back, great B&W as usually, good stuff

bfly (5737) 2004-10-05 17:43

I am so happy to see new pictures of you..and especially one from longhouse...
cannot comment, critique, admire..I am a cucumber at this hour of the night...(a miserable slave back from work..)
notes from the head voice (?) of the kid and the triangle are very very good :)...

michel_r (1114) 2004-12-08 11:58

Picture is a pleasure to look at and note a pleasure to read. Thanks a lot for that Luko. I am btw amazed at how well you write english

bboss (3548) 2005-02-14 16:49

I love this one, the kid is cute but what makes it for me is the contrast of the textures of the geometric floorboars and rug, the net becoming more and more lost out of focus, the guys and hanging things in background, and then the bright white chicken right between them.
Its perfect

AndyGr1er (281) 2005-08-21 10:38