Farming the Flats

Farming the Flats

Photograph by Alexandra Boulat

Shielded from the rough waves of open water, dark patches of seaweed flourish in shallows on the east coast of Bali. With far more ocean than land at their disposal, enterprising Indonesians make a tidy profit by farming the sea.

Camera: Canon EOS-1N Film

Type: Unrecorded

Lens: 35-70mm Canon zoom f/2.8 Speed and F-Stop: 1/500 @ f/2.8

Weather Conditions: Clear

Time of Day: 11 a.m.

Lighting Techniques: Natural + 81B filter

Special Equipment or Comments: Flying over Indonesia with Garuda Airline is easy, but it doesn’t take you everywhere. We thought about chartering a small Cessna, but because of the size of the country and the basic infrastructure, even flying with your own plane creates many logistical problems. The main dilemma was that of refueling. This flight with the Cessna was exhausting, but it was a fascinating trip in between huge tropical clouds and turquoise waters, to the top of volcanoes, through the steam of crater smoke, and over the rice fields, seaweed plantations, and fish farms.