ナショナルジオグラフィックのインスタグラム(natgeo) - 2月9日 03時46分

Photograph by @ジョン・スタンメイヤー

Taking a break while putting on makeup before performing in the Jatilan, a Reok Ponorogo performance in the Margo Tontro village in Sumber, Central Java, Indonesia.

Going Back in the Archive — One of my fondest (and most challenging) National Geographic assignments was for the story I proposed to the magazine called, Volcano Gods. Living in Indonesia at the time, I began working on the mystical elements of how the Indonesian society spiritually interacts with volcanoes or what many consider are the navels, the bellybuttons of the earth. Mount Merapi was very active at this time in 2007. I had heard of a ceremony taking place right on the slopes of this extremely spiritual volcano — a Reok Ponorogan performance that was to appease spirit believed to reside in Mount Merapi, hoping that this act would cause Merapi to stop erupting, threatening nearby villages. When photographing any project you’re working on, do not only consider the events taking place. Rather, arrive early (even stay late) and you’ll often find something truly wondrous happening as this man taking a cigarette break while putting on his performance makeup, where the smoke rising mimicked in many ways that of billowing sulfur rising from Gunung Merapi just a few kilometers away. I was so moved by this multi-year project I did for the magazine (cover story of the January 2008 issue) that we named our daughter after this astonishing volcano — Francesca Merapi Stanmeyer.

All my best, John

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• ジョン・スタンメイヤー
• ナショナルジオグラフィック
• NatGeoCreative