Islands of Earth and Trees (Java, Indonesia)

I would have never have found this place if the group of managers I was working with had not brought me here. Being a photographer of people and forests, it is the combination of people and landscape that often transfixes me. But, when I saw this landscape, and the patches of forests and islands unfolding I wandered. Time disappeared. The rain and wind beat down on me and my camera but I didn’t mind. After wandering this landscape, where sulfur was once harvested and trees grow, I settled on making this one image. It’s just sharp enough to see the waves of the lake, and the distant islands of land and trees. Now protected, this quiet piece of land still looks like a dream to me when I review the photograph. To travel from one upland forest to another, across continents that are linked by people creating and preserving forest lands is a dream. As I made this image I heard one member of our parties laugh boom out, somewhere from the mist. This world can be a hard place but entire landscapes can be islands of hope. You just have to look hard enough. Or, perhaps you need open eyes and be willing to be led sometimes.