Life is heavy, a photo from Sarawak, Est

Photographer's Note

Life is heavy and a big burden, but she carried on everyday in similar fashion.

This lady was no more than a child's height, but she could probably be a grandmother at her age.

She was seen here taking a brief rest, sitting down and letting her 25kg payload on the ground. Behind her is a well-built young man standing at ease, probably her son? (I did not ask personal question).

The curved bridge can only take one-way walker and, most important, one at a time to cross. So she was waiting for her turn.

In posting this photo, the world will realise that some folks live far beyond our imagination can perceive, and only this photo can bring such visualisation. And, I always prefer, a Note to help out.

For these villagers, trekking 5 km per way out of the village located deep within the jungle and only a earth trail/path to let them reach the outside world. Each way takes 3-4 hours walk, depending on village distance.

Some villages are further and take 5 hours each way to reach.

For them, our 'normal' living style is completely different. What you see they carry on the backs, will be daily basic necessity items, which may last 1-2 weeks? Meaning the trip will repeat again once the items are depleted.

Such a heavy life!

Regards
Bill

Data - 1/125s, f/4.8, ISO100, 155mm

mehmetemin, jusninasirun, jlbrthnn, ChrisJ, cfreire, robob, belido, plimrn, stego, MLINES, jjcordier, snunney, noborders, siolaw, Norte, LamCam trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

mehmetemin (7231) 2007-12-27 1:18

Hi Bill
Beautiful lights and excellent colours! The landscape is very nice and the picture has a good depth of field.
Regards
Mehmet Emin

jlbrthnn (76041) 2007-12-27 8:47

Hello Bill,
With such an image, one notes the difficulty of the tasks of achieving to live for Malayan the not very rich ones. Beautiful image where exhaustion is well described as well as contrast between the ages. Cheer.
Good Evening
Cordially
Joel

alftrek (3270) 2007-12-28 4:56

I think this pix is well composed and very telling...the sweat, fatique and weight of the payloads is clearly captured. Great colours too.

hello_ishan (1571) 2007-12-29 3:18

Hi,
Fantastic daily life shot of those hardy people. Nice capture of two people in two different actions. Well done.

Srinivasan

nirvana73 (0) 2007-12-29 4:00

Hi Bill
great moment
meaning looks
beatufil colours and compo
tfs
regards,
Ozhan

cfreire (11741) 2007-12-29 8:53 [Comment]

Show Comment +

robob (3648) 2007-12-29 9:23

re Hello Bill,
Une leçon pour nous qui avons tellement de facilités pour nous déplacer et sans parler des choses à transporter !
Très belle image de la vie quotidienne,
Je te souhaite une excellente fin d’année,
A bientôt,
Robert

Bluejeans (64251) 2007-12-29 9:30

Ola Bill ,
Que vida dura desta pessoas , a senhora tem uma expressão de bastante cansaço , bons detalhes na foto , gostei da vegetação , parabens!!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo
Bom Ano Novo

belido (19934) 2007-12-29 12:00

Hi Bill,

what a great shot! The image was well captured and there is a sad story behind it. We can see that everywhere in this world! Great work!
Regards,
Carlos
PS: Happy New Year!

Uhu (8609) 2007-12-29 15:26

Oh yes, hard life indeed. No TrekEarth for them, pity. You're photo is depicting unusual aspects of living, thanks for that.

plimrn (21344) 2007-12-29 15:56

Hi Bill,
The excellent detail in the photo shows her bulging veins on her forhead. This is clearly heavy load to raise her blood pressure so much even while she is at rest.
Your excellent daily life shot is well supported by your empathetic note.
HLJ, Pat

stego (24132) 2007-12-29 17:23

Hi Bill,
A touching and powerful image. Life is certainly hard for those two and you show it well with this photo so well composed and lit. The DOF is right on the spot, resulting in a remarkable clarity only in what really matters: the persons. I am a bit surprised for noticing that she is Christian.
Regards, José.
I wish you a Happy New Year!

MLINES (12516) 2007-12-29 17:26

Hi Bill. I like this a lot. The exhausted woman deserves retirement not just a short rest perhaps. I have been to Kuching several times just for business so not had the chance to see this sort of scene but it has inspired a few days off the track, next time. TFS. Murray.

ChrisJ (159946) 2007-12-30 0:36

Hi Bill

Good use of a shallow dof, with great sharpness on the fg subjects. Some slight oe on the highlights. A superb daily life shot from Malaysia & tfs!

jjcordier (79299) 2007-12-30 1:07

Bill
Une belle photo-documentaire bien construite et très "parlante". De quoi nous faire réfléchir sur notre situation de grands privilégiés!
Amicalement
JJ

snunney (130967) 2007-12-30 7:05

Hello Bill,
A very good portrait of this lady with her heavy load. I like the juxtaposition and the different point of view on the two subjects. Very good colours and clarity. Thanks for sharing this picture of a totally different way of life from where I live. All the best for 2008 to you and your family.

noborders (1010) 2007-12-30 7:33

Very interesting ! What a load... The tattooes on the legs of the man remind me of those from the Ibans (Dayaks) in Sarawak, although I don't think that they had tattoes on that part of the body...
Courageous and hard-working people, very good of you to post this photo on TE !

TFS, Happy New Year,
Cath.

gracious (20025) 2007-12-30 7:48

Hello Lau,
Very good portrait of daily life!
good pov with sharpness, nice colour and details in it
well done
a very good notes
cheers
tony

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-01-02 2:12

Hello Bill,
Very good expression in the face giving the impression of tiredness and the load behind her explains the whole scene. Well captured daily life,
Regards,
Jusni

Stepan (27210) 2008-01-02 11:28

Seems to be hard... You composed the moment well, with that woman, resting a moment and the "keep walking" guy in the background. Two states in the same image, well done.
Stéphane

shevchenko (20560) 2008-01-06 18:29

Hi Bill,
Clear and sharp image, great color.
Happy New Year 2008.
Ally

siolaw (38294) 2008-01-07 9:12

Hi Bill,
In India, some places are very remote too and can take days of walk to reach..! Well timed capture of the resting woman in a suitable vertical framing, with young man above her... Harsh light on her backpack but not disturbing.. Good docu value too!
Greetings from India
Laurent

Norte (531) 2008-01-07 15:46

Hi!
A fine documentary picture, good colors and composition. Hope those backpacks not are as heavy as they look!
TFS!
Regards, Jon

LamCam (3717) 2008-01-09 14:49

Hello Bill
This is a valuable glimpse into another way of life. If those who rely on motor transport to carry every thing they need had ,instead, to carry it themselves the vast amount of over-consumption that has become normal would soon diminish! I have no car and carry home most things I need for the house and garden myself and, believe me, 'Buy two get one free' offers have little appeal - particularly on bulky or heavy items! But my experience is nothing compared to these people - 1km on a reasonable footpath and, to some extent, the lack of a car is a matter of choice.
Your photo captures the woman in a natural pose without feeling intrusive. The vertical format is perfect for the subject.
Thank you for this excellent photo in the true TE spirit of learning about the world.
Best wishes Maggie

CatherineD (4864) 2008-01-10 11:34

Hi Bill,
Very instructive photo and note. The composition and the colours are excellent. The expression of the women tell a lot. Yes, we must be very thankfull to live with more than the daily basic...
Thanks,
Catherine

Angshu (56760) 2008-01-10 19:48

Hello Bill
A tribute to the hardworking people. Similar scenes can be seen in our mountainous areas as well. The bulging vein on her vein indicates the strain in carrying the loads, day in day out. Good work Bill
Regards
Angshu

Waylim (25436) 2008-01-21 14:15

Bill,

This photo almost brings tears to my eyes. Life is hard on many remote area of the world. I have traveled to quite a few of them. All I can say is we city folks don’t realize how good we have it. We’re fast to complain about little inconvenience we encounter, and we always want more. This kind of photo is a reminder to us that life has been good to us, that we should be content. Not to say that we shouldn’t strive to do better in life. If we do better, we will be more capable of help other in need.

I enjoy looking at all your photos. My only comment for you is to be aware of how you frame your photos. It should take the attention away from your photo. Some of them are on the bother line of being distracting. If you’re not sure, leave it out.

thiv56 (1628) 2008-01-30 3:02

Hello Bill,

Nice shot, good conception and bright colours! TFS.

foozi (7101) 2008-10-05 23:06

Hello bill,
a lovely people portrait and daily chores shot.
Moment well grabbed as you comoposed them in a nice diagonal, along with the contrasting colours of the attire.
the stick coming out of the corner is a treasure in this shot.

regards,
Foozi