Human Spirit

‘Human Spirit’ presents documentary style images about people.
Their activities are at the centre of the story.

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Before the catch
Before the catch

While the women return from the tea plantation, these boys play a game of cricket in a little town close to Dalhousie in the Nuwara Eliya District of Sri Lanka. This area is part of the Hill Country, which is world famous for its high quality tea. Away from the touristic area, this village is a beautiful setting where you can experience the authentic (colonial influenced) Sri Lankan rural life.

Sri Lankan Fishers of Dawn
Sri Lankan Fishers of Dawn

At the beach of Tangalle, Sri Lanka, these fishermen go out every morning. The three men push the catamaran in the water and two of them will jump in the boat and go fishing for about three hours.

Tamil tea harvester
Tamil tea harvester

This is a woman working at a tea plantation close to Dalhousie in the Nuwara Eliya District of Sri Lanka. This woman and her colleagues work on the plantation seven days a week, eight hours a day and earn only around € 50,00 a month. For this they have to pick around 15 kilogrammes of tea leaves a day. At the end of the day, the women walk with their harvest to the tea factory in the village to collect their wage.

Transferring
Transferring

On the railway from Kandy to Hatton in Sri Lanka the train stops at many stations. As another train entered the railway station, these two young men were interested in what was going on or who was sitting in the train just in front of me.

Cusco market
Cusco market

Mercado Central de San Pedro in Cusco, Peru, is a local market by Peruvians for Peruvians. It is a colourful market with a wide variety of the strangest products, such as fresh squeezed fruit juices, soup with jawbone, all kinds of herbs, or animal snouts. On the foreground a Quechua woman explores the market.

Preparing for the night
Preparing for the night

Every evening, the fishermen of Unawatuna in Sri Lanka prepare their catamarans to go fishing in the night. According to a local fisherman, the fish no longer appear during the daytime due to the many tourists who swim in the ocean and ride their jet ski’s. Because of this, the fishermen can only fish at night. They leave after sunset, around 6:30 in the afternoon and return just after sunrise, around 6:30 a.m. Most fishermen, like this man, use catamarans because of their stability, and row 3.5 kilometres into the Indian Ocean to reach the fishing spots. Although this is a sad story, the fishermen make the best of it and cheerfully adapt to the situation.

Strandvisser
Strandvisser

At the beach of Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands, this man fishes for sea bass. He takes the fish home to eat it for himself. Strandvisser is Dutch for ‘beach fisherman’.

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How to find the Sri Lankan stilt fishermen, and photograph them?
How to find the Sri Lankan stilt fishermen, and photograph them?

– Research before the trip | The quest in Sri Lanka | Discovering the stilt fishermen | Photographing techniques

Type in Sri Lanka in a search engine. Among the first thing you find are the iconic images of stilt fishermen. Many photographers have made beautiful pictures of them. As I was about to visit Sri Lanka, I wanted to find and photograph them myself. You never know what new perspective you might discover, right?

Roaming the Otavalo market streets
Roaming the Otavalo market streets

– The two markets of Otavalo | Around Otavalo

Travelling through Ecuador is a colourful experience. And I’m not merely talking about the colours of nature. They are with the people too. It’s in their clothing, bags, art – everywhere! I guess, when you’re visiting Ecuador, there’s a fair chance you’d like to bring something home? Then the Otavalo artisans market is the place to indulge yourself. However, there’s more to this town than market stalls.
Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon

– Part 5: Overview & Tips | Preserving and visiting the Amazon

You’ve been able to read about our preparations at the beginning of this story. But I didn’t include a packing list, for example. In this final part of the story, I will give you a complete overview and tips. But first, here’s a brief explanation what we all can do to help preserve the Amazon.

Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon

– Part 4: Exploring the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve

We were preparing for a night walk in the rainforest with Luis. It was pitch-dark. That meant headlight on and being even more alert as to where you’re going than during the day. Even more so because we were about to learn that it’s the very small that can have the biggest of consequences.

Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon

– Part 3: Exploring the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve

As Luis guided us through the Ecuadorian Amazon, we experienced a continuous stream of amazement. We were walking in an unknown world. The jungle was teeming with wildlife. However, some of it dead and alive at the same time. We’re talking real-life Amazon zombies here.

Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon

– Part 2: Trip into the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | Arrival in Siona lodge and meeting the crew | First adventures

The moment I thought I had seen something weird, something weirder was around the corner. You can be pretty sure with hundred thousands of species surrounding you.

Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Jungle exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon

– Part 1: Why the Ecuadorian Amazon? | How to prepare and get there?

“Jump in the water!”, Luis said. Under normal circumstances, jumping in a lake would be no problem. But circumstances were not normal. The water was brown, unclear. It means you can’t see what’s in it. The problem was that I knew what’s in it…