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.