Photographic interpretation of Zheng He voyage
Photographic interpretation of Zheng He voyage
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fascinated by stories of Zheng He's (Cheng Ho's) voyage,
accomplished National Geographic (NG) photographer Michael
Yamashita retraced the East-to-West journey of Admiral Zheng He's
Grand Fleet, visiting nine countries from the birthtown of the
great seaman to Kenya.
Some of the pictures were published in NG, but more were
displayed in an exhibition at Oktagon Gallery, Central Jakarta,
last week.
The 52-picture exhibition, began with a photograph of a large
portrait of Zheng He in his birthtown, Kunyang, Yunnan province,
China.
With rare photographic acuity, American Yamashita carefully
retraced moments revealed in Zheng He's fleet records.
In Thailand, Yamashita relived the Chinese sailors'
fascination with elephants, capturing a moment where Chinese
tourists with happy faces ride the huge creatures.
Following records scribbled by Zheng He's clerk Ma Hua,
Yamashita visited Java and photographed things that delighted the
foreigners in the land of the Majapahit Kingdom.
Many things have remained, despite the passage of time; some
elderly people in Java still chew betel nut and wayang beber (a
puppet play in which the stories are drawn on cloth screens) is
still staged in some locations.
Yamashita captured not only cultural events but also the
vibrant trade that drove the fleet to travel to the West: sulfur,
salt, tin and gemstones.
The intrepid photographer climbed a mountain in Java to
produce a touching portrayal of men engaged in the arduous task
of transporting sulfuric rocks.
In Malaysia, the Hindu Festival, in which Chinese-Malaysians
took part, drew Yamashita's attention. In the festivities he
found hints of Zheng He's visit to the peninsula.
Further west, in Srilanka and India, he shot beautiful
landscape, colorful people and culture, as well as marine life.
In Yemen, he visited Sanaa, which Zheng He never actually
visited. Yamashita justified his visit to the trading hub,
photographing a busy market where commodities from Aden, where
the Grand Fleet berthed, were sold.
He also captured moments where children in Yemen studied Islam
from books.
Yamashita's Kenya photographs were as striking as other
pictures. A portrait of a beautiful young girl in a red veil was
no ordinary picture. Yamashita obviously has a flair for
capturing the essence of his subjects.
Yamashita's endeavor to retrace the grand voyages obviously
could not equal the magnificence of the journeys themselves.
However, his vivid photographs certainly helped exhibition
visitors to imagine the greatness of the expedition and how it
affected the people involved.
Michael Yamashita has been a regular contributor to National
Geographic since 1979. Before retracing Zheng He's expedition,
Yamashita, also for National Geographic, retraced the Marco Polo
expedition from the West to the East.
He now lives with his wife Elizabeth Bibbs in New Jersey where
he spends his spare time working as a volunteer fireman.