Chris Stowers unveils the nomad within

Vivid N. Savitri, Contributor, Jakarta

Ayn Rand wrote in her masterpiece The Fountainhead: "I never have a definite destination. This ship is not for going places, but for getting away from them. When I stop at a port, it's only for the sheer pleasure of leaving it. I always think here's one more spot that can't hold me."

In many ways, it describes the wandering soul that lies within iconoclastic British photographer Christopher Roland Stowers.

Indeed, it's the restless nomadic urge that keeps him from staying in one place for more than a few weeks. "I always get ill," he says, "if I have to stay more than two weeks in one place. Perhaps it's my body system that keeps me traveling."

It was winter 1986 when Stowers sold his beloved motorcycle to buy a one-way ticket to Pakistan and it was during that particular "life searching moment" that he began his love affair with Nikon. He has not stopped going to places wherever his beloved camera can immortalize the tragic-comic duality of the mere mortal, welcomed or otherwise.

Sixteen years later, after traveling in over 50 countries on four continents, Stowers has yet to satisfy the restlessness within him.

"There's so much anger in me that I couldn't figure it out. That's why I simply have to keep going and shoot whenever and however I want. In a way, I'm doing society a favor," he said.

Stowers was born in Kent, England, in 1967, into a family with a history of travel, among them several wandering sailor- explorers (including Abel J. Tasman, the discoverer of Tasmania), a 19th century New Mexico cowboy and grandparents who, among their many romantic money-losing pursuits, operated a gold mine and published a newspaper in Rhodesia.

An overly shy man in nature, Stowers admits that only by "hiding" behind his viewfinder can he freely convey whatever inner voices he is otherwise unable to form in words. If one asks him about the philosophical reason behind his photographs, why such pictures are taken, and what sort of messages he wants to convey, it is more likely that Stowers will just shrug his shoulders and simply say, "I don't know. I never really thought about it. I just want to go out there and shoot."

It's just too easy for a photographer to become, after a while in such a job, a cynic. Just another war to cover. Just another refugee crisis or flood to shoot. Thus began the competition among photographers to see who could get the most gruesome shot, or who had the best tale of deprivation to tell. But yet, when one sees the vast collection of photographs showing at Stowers' Planet NOMAD exhibition, in Jakarta, instead of seeing a frontal showcase of a classical clash between good and evil in its most naked reality, one will see humor, albeit sarcastic humor, behind every picture.

Somehow, the inner-child within him always manages to capture the humor within every unfortunate situation. One of these images is amid the Intifada rally in Ramallah, Palestine.

Stowers spotted a group of Arafat bodyguards sitting on top of a jeep, and a Nike swoosh stuck on the windscreen below their machine gun. For him, the tenseness of the situation was immediately diffused. Remember that nothing in life needs to be too serious!

Having never undergone any formal education in photography, Stowers is clearly one of those natural-born photographers who counts solely on instinct to pixelize every adventure onto the two-dimensional medium of photographic film as truthfully as possible.

But how does one do so without falling into the trap of being cliche? How do you keep the "actors" in real time? How, above all else, do you become a fly on the wall? "To borrow Harry Potter's invisibility cloak would be the dream of most photographers I know: to move about in complete anonymity," he jovially states.

A series of black and white photographs about abortion in Brasov, Romania, is strong evidence of how well Stowers can morph himself into just being there without anyone noticing him.

The result, a four-page article in Marie Claire magazine showing heart-wrenching photos of women in the process of eradicating a life, a topic that causes much debate in modern society. "I, for whatever reason of fate, happened to find myself ideally placed to cover it," he said.

It was summer 1992, a significant moment in Stowers' life that steered him toward the life of professional photographer and full-time nomad.

From then on, assignments from international media, such as The New York Times, Asiaweek, Time Magazine, Business Week and other publications, started to pour in. Joining Asiaweek magazine the same year seemed to be the next best thing to do, and indeed he stayed with the magazine until its last and final issue.

Represented by Panos Pictures in the UK and JiwaFoto in Asia, Stowers is currently based in Taipei and, being a nomad, the term "base" merely refers to a place he occasionally visits to take care of his massive portfolio, which is stored in stacks of boxes at his apartment.

Always dressed in a photographer's vest -- that has seen better days -- with Blood A+ marked on the right pocket; Stowers always endeavors to keep in touch with the human factor.

True, that a picture with a gun in the frame -- no matter how irrelevant that shot is -- will sell over a picture with no weapons in view.

"But I've always tried to take the stonier path; to shoot the human and positive struggle going on around a war rather than to wade in on the guns and bullets of today's favorite action hot spot," he said.

Just like when he shot Kashmiri refugees in northern Pakistan, Syrian migrant families in Beirut or land mine victims in Cambodia, where he received such hospitality and warmth, joking (still) along with people whose whole world has been one of war, poverty and constant migration.

"I find their story far more touching and worthy of report than following just another bunch of hotheaded militiamen with Kalashnikovs."

Stowers' pictures truly do him justice. Always trying to juxtapose reality -- if not mocking it -- by combining laughter and tears, his pictures shout as loud as one of a Comanche warrior.

A stark contrast to his brutally honest shots, Stowers himself is a soft-spoken person who is easily frustrated by changing technology, including the Internet. He is still able to laugh at his own misfortunes and play situations down by quoting one of the infamous sarcastic remarks from the British TV series Black Adder, to get the frustration he sometimes feels out of his system.

"No matter how gray and foreboding, how lacking in hope life may seem to me at times," he said, "I am always rescued from my self-absorbed moment and brought back to earth again by the touching humility and good faith exhibited by those in far worse situations than myself."

Stowers' recent exhibition at Antara Photo Gallery, Jakarta, ended on July 18. He chose Jakarta to premiere the Planet Nomad exhibition for a number of reasons. Partly because it was Indonesia -- in the guise of Matra magazine -- that helped him launch his shaky career many miles and countries ago.

"Perhaps Indonesia, too, has always been with me -- taking with me her sunshine, warmth and enduring optimism -- wherever I've traveled," he said. His very first story documented an incredible sea voyage aboard the Kurnia Ilahi Bugis boat as he and six fellow travelers sailed from Flores to Singapore. A journey that nearly cost them their lives.

"Perhaps one day I'll have shot enough to burn-out this restless, relentless energy that keeps on nagging at me to continue on to the next country, the next story. But I hope that day is still some distance off," put Stowers optimistically.

Inevitably, the nomad within Stowers will keep dragging him on through the sands of time, to the next exciting adventure, the never-ending, soul-searching journey behind the lens. Thus wrote Emmanuel Levinas: "The Element I inhabit lies at the frontier of the night."