Awestruck - Lost Village
Maseru, Flores Island, Indonesia, Asia
Camera: Rolleiflex
The story: Getting a glimpse of man viewing the unknown is a raw experience, it is a view of curiosity and apprehension. While on the Island of Flores, Indonesia, in the tiny town of Maseru, I was fortunate enough to meet a beautiful man who was the local English teacher. How he could teach a language and understand so little himself, was a tribute to his natural confidence. After a few days with him exploring the local villages, he asked me what I wanted to see. I asked to be taken to a place where no other foreigners had been, not even sure that such a place existed. Apparently it did. Two days later, after a fair bit of research, we set off in a boat and then on foot. The village was hidden deep in a tropical jungle, with no obvious trail leading to its entrance. Whether we were actually the first foreigners to set foot here remains uncertain and unimportant. The way the inhabitants responded established this as a first encounter with people of my looks and habits. The fearful respect for the unknown was there, and they all made sure to keep space between themselves and the foreigner. Yet, curiosity is fundamental to man. For a few hours my every function and move was noticed and explored. It went beyond the curiosity of foreign objects, I saw an eagerness to gain understanding of just what I was. What an experience for us both.
