Johannes Leistner

Since all travel photos from my last trip (Thailand) are post processed now, I browsed through older photos which I have taken in April/May this year in Indonesia. It is fun watching them again with a distant view and playing around with post processing styles I have learned during the time in between.

So I came across photos I took in a Muslim orphanage in Palembang. Palembang is the capital of the province of South Sumatra and the second largest city on that island behind Medan. My brother and the couple who runs that place are good friends due to the fact that my brother and his family had lived in the neighborhood and often invited the kids (not all of them at once of course) to come over to their house for English lessons or gaming afternoons.

I have never been in an orphanage before so this visit was a special experience for me, which has deeply moved me. What are your thoughts when thinking about children in an orphanage? For me I figured out that my spontaneous associativity would be very much cliché like: Kids in a place like this have to be poor and would look at you with unhappy and empty eyes since they are apart from their parents or don’t even have relatives anymore! Every day they would wait for someone rich (maybe Angelina Jolie or Madonna?) to pick them up and bring them to a different country with all the toys in the world they could possibly imagine…

Well it wasn’t exactly that case. After we had arrived, the hosting couple asked all kids to get together in the living room, to give us, the guest, a respectful welcome. 50 children live constantly in that house, during that time of the day around 30 of them were joining us downstairs. I didn’t expect them to be so disciplined and shy. Also I had to deal with their way of “saying hello”. I felt a bit awkward when one after another took my hand, brought it to its mouth, indicated a kiss and then took it further up to its forehead. This procedure was meant as a sign of high respect and they all did it with a serious expression on their faces. Coming from Europe I simply would have loved to hug them and give those cuties a big kiss - but of course I didn’t do it and behaved as they would expect it from an adult.

So the children sat on the ground in rows like in school and the hosts with their guests sat on the only couch in the room, also a sign of respect. I felt a bit uncomfortable there, like in a fish bowl, so soon I mingled with them on the floor, tried communicating with them by using hands and feet and of course taking photos - they warmed up very quickly then and lost their shyness.

Later they showed me around their dwelling. Compared to western standards their living conditions were of course very poor. The floors were dirty, the kitchen just an open fire place outside and most of the rooms were a big mess - depending on the kid’s age and gender. But what can I say all about it am I allowed to judge? When looking into the children’s faces, I only saw curiosity and happiness in their eyes. They all behaved as they would be caring brothers and sister within a big family. And the hosting couple? The may not be the perfectly gifted managers in terms of keeping the place tidy and organized (again, this is my European look at this subject) - but I felt that they were people with a great mission (they live on donations only) and more than that, they were loving parents for 50 adorable children. This has moved me the most and changed my mindset about orphanages.

During my stay on Bali I had an engagement at the Matahari Beach Resort, a luxury hotel complex located at the north shore near the village of Pemuteran.
They wanted to have photographs of their newly equipped main restaurant, the bar and the beach restaurant. Additionally to that I also documented one of their cooking classes. Besides taking photographs, I enjoyed the comfort of that place. It is located at a very remote spot, far away from the hustle and bustle of Kuta Beach or other touristy areas.

Matahari-Beach-Resort & Spa: A great highlight is the weekly dance show, performed by Balinese dancers on the hotels open-air stage in front of the main restaurant. This has been my first show of this kind, with traditional Gamelan music and it really was a special experience. Visiting a Gamelan dance evening is a must-thing to do on Bali!

The way the dancers move, act and appear is fascinating. Every single movement of their hands and even their eyes is a rehearsed part of the performance and tells its little secret story. I also liked their wardrobe, which is rich in detail and exquisitely crafted. It appears as if it would glow out of itself.

Can you sense the special atmosphere of an exotic and colourful dance show like this one, performed in the warmth of a charming Balinese night? I found my self mesmerized by all this different and intense sensations!

The girl on the top photograph is only 12 years old and began dancing lessons at the age of four. She is now a professional and it is a great pleasure to watch her perform!

After having spent more than two weeks on Sumatra and Java, I travelled to the beautiful island of Bali. I had red a lot about this piece of land, that it would be different from the rest of Indonesia and it happened to be exactly like that! Actually I almost experienced something like a cultural shock.

The main difference of course is the religion. On Bali you’ll find more than 93% Hindus and only 5% Muslims whereas on Sumatra it is the other way round. For a western eye it looks like people live with less regulations. And for a photographer the Hindu culture offers more picturesque photo options, especially if you look at all the temples, flower sacrifices and nicely decorated homes.

And I think you’ve guessed it already, yes there are more tourists, many more of them. I haven’t met a white guy on Sumatra, but loads of them on Bali. Therefore the Balinese tourism industry offers you a lot of convenient options to choose from.
It seems like every well know hotel chain has to have its top of the class wellness and spa resort on the island. You also find any kind of restaurants for every budget, beauty farms and organized adventure trips there.

Even a small town like Ubud, which happens to be something like an arts and crafts centre, not only has a few souvenir shops and workshops, but hundreds of them! The offer really was incredible - how can they all make money?

After the intense impressions and experienced I gained on Sumatra I felt a little fed up with everything, I needed time to "process my thoughts". And Bali seemed to be like a whole new holiday in a different country.
So I decided to go for less excitements but a relaxing program: staying in nice hotels, enjoying at least one hour of massage and a three-course dinner a day… I can tell ya, it worked well!

17 is the year to celebrate for Indonesian youngsters! That is when they come of age and traditionally it will be celebrated with a big feast. But don’t think that you might be surrounded by a bunch of bloody drunk teens - no! Due to the Islamic tradition drinking alcohol is not a custom in Indonesia, at least for 95% of the country.

We got invited to this 17th birthday as special guests, as it is always a honor to have western visitors at your table. It was really a special experience to witness this happening. The buffet was tasty (Chinese cuisine due to their original background), the music was extremely loud that you couldn’t understand a single word and most surprising, they had hired three transvestites as moderators (dressed with "Bavarian Dirndl")! My brother said that this happened often, no good party without transvestites!

Here you can see a part of one of Palembang´s market places. Visiting an Asian market is an experience for all senses. You witness how one slaughters chicken, others sell live fish or weird looking testis… And also of course you will find all sorts of vegetables, fruits and spices there.

But the main attraction of all will be yourself - or me and my brothers in this case! I think it doesn’t happen very often, that three white and tall people enter such a market. Everybody tried to get our attention by calling "mister mister!" or touching our white skin and making jokes about the shape of our noses.

This experience was so different compared to my visit of Moroccan markets where the people seem to be uncommunicative.