Geographer Photographer

Malaysians like to respect the Datuk by building him a house. There are so many interesting versions of a Datuk house, a place that gives him cover and provides a place for worship. Sometimes the houses look a lot like…

In Tanjong Karang, Datuk temples and shrines abound. The Datuk helps protect the fishermen who hail from a sea-faring background in Fujian province in China. There are 5 Datuks worshipped in this shrine and some of their names are indicated,…

This story comes from a cluster of Hindu temples under the high tension wires in Kampung Eng Ann, Klang. Here communities gather to reclaim their attachment to sacred space, generations after being separated from their land. We found ourselves there,…

Communities have different ways of responding to pressures on their traditionally-held beliefs. When a conservative faction in Johor state revived a religious fatwah against the art of Kuda Kepang, the response was loud and clear. In the heart of Parit…

This is a short story about a dreamer, or rather it’s the beginning of a story about a dreamer. It comes from backstage at the Chinese Opera, a place where I often lose myself in romantic ideals of the itinerant…

This past week, I had reason to think about equivalents, particularly what that means to photography, but also what it means to music, to poetry, to painting, and drawing. Minor White wrote that, in a photograph, “that which seems to…

The sound of the nomadic Tuareg people of Mali is still echoing through the city as I write this. Theirs is a music that comes from time, that comes from a sense of knowing and a sense of longing. Tinariwen,…

The Think City space on the edge of Medan Pasar in Kuala Lumpur came to life with a performance by Kumpulan Sri Warisan Pusaka – the beloved Wayang Kulit troupe from Kelantan. Organized by Pusaka, they performed a traditional story…