Bali Rice Cliché

Had to smile the other day when a photographer friend posted some photos of saffron-clad Buddhist monks on his blog with an apology for being cliché.  It’s so nice to see other photographers deal with wanting to photograph what is beautiful about  SE Asia, but not wanting to be labeled.  Good on Justin to come clean with this one and help us all remain a bit more honest.  (As an aside – there are plans to get Justin to KL for a couple of workshops, so do check out his blog!)

Returning from a recent quick trip to Bali, I decided that I liked some of my photos of the Balinese working in the rice fields.  Terribly trite and easy to hide them.  Doesn’t everyone take rice field photos in Bali?  But rice cultivation defines place in Bali, just as the monks do in Siem Reap and Luang Prabang.  And how to resist? – people working with their hands (no machines) in something agricultural and life sustaining?   So here they are.  And if you don’t want to look just skip to the next blog.  Just as we learn from seeing Justin’s beautiful photos of monks, why don’t you show us how you shoot rice field scenes in Bali, with a difference![slideshow]

That last photo in the slideshow is a segue into my next blog – all about the Naga.