Today’s Bali Photo of the Day shows a typical day here in our small traditional village. Our Bali retreat is located in a small friendly village near the beach in South East Bali called Ketewel. Guests coming for our wellness and yoga retreats commonly see serene sights such as this.
We work very closely with our local village or banjar as its called in Bali. We provide classes and workshops in yoga, English language learning, sustainable agriculture, permaculture and more free of charge to our neighbors and all Balinese that would like to attend. For the past seven years we have donated 21 are (1/2 acre) to the village to use as farmland. Floating Leaf Eco-Retreat also subsidizes local farmers so they can grow crops in a traditional manner that allows the crops to grow longer, gain more nutrients and farm organic chemical free food.
Our Bali Eco Retreat and Cultural Exchange
The participants in our yoga and wellness retreats interact with the local people and get to see how a traditional village works and how real Balinese live, work, pray and celebrate. The gracious people of our village welcome our retreat guests into their homes, temples, farms and special places. Cultural exchange is at the heart of mission and our guests often comment that it is one of the most special experiences they have while in Bali.
Here is a local woman bringing the offering she made with her family to the local temple for a recent ceremony.
Our Bali retreat lies in the heart of a beautiful traditional Balinese village
Click here to learn more about our commitment to the community and the environment.
2 Comments. Leave new
You and I are just NEVER going to agree on how much Photoshop is enough. In this case, I think that selective color has truly mis-stated the reality of your locale. Pure BW, or even toned BW, would have served you better!
I suspect I’m fighting a losing battle — my theory is that illuminative art (glowing computer screen) has triumphed over reflective art by setting expectations for how we view the world that are blatantly artificial. I think today’s photo was right in trying to emphasize tonality over color, but wrong in going after selective color. You live in a lush, green environment. You could live with that. Or, just for fun, isolate the non-green elements, treat the greenery as a pure BW and play with its tonal range, then, instead of washing-out the skin tones, push the colors of clothes and skin. Obviously, this is a photo critique, and not about the civilization in Bali, which I hope to see first hand someday!
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the comment and I love the differences. Actually, as you see most of my work here on Floating Leaf is straight representational. Coming from a fine art background (Art prof 10 years and Photo Prof only 2 years), my initial inclination is to impart my own feeling to the work. Having been in Bali so long, the beautiful verdant green landscapes can become ubiquitous. Not that I am not raptured by them daily, 5% of the time I like to provide the viewer with something a bit different.
Please don’t feel you are “fighting” or “in a battle”. I know they are just figures of speech, but we are brothers who share a deep love for the same craft. Its beautiful we can express in a variety of ways.
And you are right on about the much bigger point here, the profound culture and beauty of Bali AND that we have to get you here to be inspired by it first hand (not just through my eyes).
Thanks so much Eric for your critique and I look forward to much more discussion with you on these matters over the years.
Warm regards,
Michael