Learn to Fly: “My Malaysia” Photo Series (4)

“Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.” (Richard Bach, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”)

 

Chew Jetty. George Town. Penang, 22 May 2019

Malaysia has given me a gift: a new lens. The publishing house of the University that I worked for bought the 10mm lens for me, to create the photographic book: a wide-angle lens.

In many years in Indonesia I have seen beautiful landscapes, as well as in Italy, as I have shown you (here and here), but I have always had a strong interest in people. Therefore, even when I photographed landscapes, it was an essential requirement that there was at least one person.

Humans are more important than places. It has always been this way. But things change, people change. Me too. Above all, it changes the way we see. For two reasons.

The first is related to the lenses that are used; for this reason, in basic photography courses, we always say to wait to buy lenses, because each photographic style has its specific. Therefore, it's important to know first what we like and then buy the lens.

The second reason arises from us, from what we have inside and what we feel.

Tasik Cermin (Mirror Lake). Ipoh. Perak, 24 February 2019

Perak River. Karai. Perak,  15 August 2019

Malaysia has been a wonderful experience for me and I miss it every day. But it has not always been flowers and roses: there have been very difficult moments, of strong tension and stress. And, there have been few times that I thought of giving up, of going away.

But I'm not a guy who gives up easily. Also, even though I was surrounded by people who loved me, I was alone with all the tension that pressed to explode inside me. That's when I started to feel a pleasure that I had never felt before: that of flying.

I was looking for the most beautiful landscapes: extended, without borders, difficult to understand for those who live in cities suffocated by buildings. The beaches, the waves, di bibir laut, as it's said in a very poetic way in the Malaysian language, that is, at the lips of the sea.

Kampung Salam Rakit, Ulu Tiram. Johor, 26 May 2019

Masjid Terapung. Tanjung Bunga. Penang,  31 August 2019

Kampung Kuala Pahang. Pekan, Kuantan. Pahang, 22 September 2018

 

But, above all the skies. As in the classic interpretation of dreams, flying means abandoning every problem on the ground, like a ballast, to get lost in the sky.

So it was with me; when I was in front of these masterpieces of nature, it was enough for me to change the lens of the camera, with a gesture that acquired an almost magical dimension, mount the 10mm, press the eye in the viewfinder (a gesture of which one cannot underline enough importance when comparing photography with the camera and smartphone) and point to the sky. And then open the lens to the maximum, trying to let the sky enter its borders.

As if, in extreme childish illusion, the body could pass through the lens and be catapulted into the sky, getting lost in the clouds; and if this were not possible, at least all the tensions, fears, anger and sadness could transform into birds flying towards those clouds.

Kurau River, Kuala Kurau. Perak, 8 June 2019

Kurau River. Kuala Kurau. Perak, 8 June 2019

I know it may seem silly and childish, because in the end these are just beautiful landscapes, postcards of a wonderful Malaysia. But they were also something more to me. They were the escape.

Penang,  15 August 2019

Penang,   1 September 2019

Gelugor. Penang,   19 October 2019

Gelugor. Penang,   19 October 2019

For the first time I just wanted that: no person. Not even one. Because when    precisely   it    is   people  that hurt us and make us suffer, then it's better to abandon oneself to the beauty of nature that heals everything. And fly, like Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Teluk Bahang. Penang,  2 May 2019

Batu Ferringhi Beach. Penang,   31 August 2019

Kampung Guar Perahu. Penang,   19 January 2019

Sungai Merbok. Sungai Petani. Kedah, 2 May 2019

 

Gunung Inas, Puncak Tinjau. Pengkalan Hulu. Perak, 1 December 2018

Kedah, 20 October 2019

Pantai Pulau Sayak. Kedah, 20 October 2019

Pantai Teluk Bayu. Teluk Kumbar. Penang, 12 October 2019

Recommended song: Siti Nurhaliza & Mohram “Sakti”

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