Robert@PNG

As the academic year draws to an end I took the opportunity last week to take some photos of the students in both my subjects.

(Above is a photo of the Manus island students in IS422)

For the record, I was never into photography before arriving in PNG mid April earlier this year. Just before leaving the shores of downunder my family chipped in and bought me a digital camera to take with me on my two year PNG adventure.

I am starting to enjoy the action of capturing those special moments. There is certainly more to it than just pressing the button. Capturing that expression on someone's face or that interaction between people is not easy.

I have learnt that if I have my camera close by there will inevitably be those moments that are worthy of “capture”. The irritating thing is that when something has been witnessed the moment has already passed. I am beginning to understand those people that walk around with cameras around their necks….  ready to “snap” at a moments notice.

My other observation with photography is that it requires the observer to move in close to situations or people. I am still nervous taking photos of people without their explicit permission but things are improving.

Capturing that essence or spirit of the PNG people has become my challenge. As I learn their language and get more comfortable being amongst them I feel that my photography and that ability to capture that special moment is also improving.

With the photos I have captured and posted of my students I feel that the process of moving closer to the heart and face of PNG is happening. As this process continues I believe that the quality of my images will also improve.

The IS326 class is only a small group and the photos you can see are of the whole group.

With the IS422 class I decided to try a different approach. Firstly I took some photos of the whole class and then we did the following:

1) Divided the class up into respective tutorial groups.

2) Divided the class up into PNG provinces. This group of photos is interesting as it shows the variety of ethnic groups in PNG as racial features do vary from region to region. 

Photos were then taken of each of these groups and these have been posted to the Students photo album.