On the road to Kimbe Photo

Photographer’s Note

The island of New Britain, is home to the largest oil palm plantations in Papua New Guninea (PNG). Palm oil, an edible oil and ingredient in a huge number of processed food and industrial products, is now PNG's most valuable export. In a country with one of the highest rates of poverty in Asia and the Pacific, such an export would on the surface be considered a "good thing". Unfortunately, the wealth derived from the production of palm oil is concentrated in the hands of the processing companies. Each bunch seen in the picture would yield a worker about US$0.10 from one of the processing companies, to assemble such a pile would take a family a day's work, thus a family might earn around US$2 for such work. In West New Britain, one of the more remote parts of PNG, one kilogram of rice costs US$1. In 2003 PNG's three palm oil companies made close to US$80 million profit.

eugeneahn, benkrut has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

eugeneahn (298) 2005-08-03 11:31

The content of the photograph seems somewhat innocuous compared to the chilling contrast of details in your photographer's note. The people seem to have decent clothes that are not in tatters. Are the subject in the image considered part of the country's population living in poverty? It's amazing and appalling to consider how much and how routinely a fair share of reward will not trickle down to the actual hands that perform the work that attains the wealth. Shame on corporate greed, and bravo for sharing images that shed light on these inequities.

Some thoughts on technique. When the subject is low to the ground like this, crouch and shoot from their level. It will help give the image a better sense of being connected with the subject. Your point of view in this shot actually creates both physical and emotional distance from the subject, and I think this is probably counter to your intentions given the angle of your note. All in all, a stronger option would be a close up portrait of the sitting person with some of those crops in the portrait background. But that might be the second or third shot in your camera already.