“Flood and Light” is the title of the story published in Stern No. 14 2023, which I photographed together with my friend Rolf Nobel in Borneo in February 2023.
Even before the Covid 19 pandemic, Rolf had the idea to photograph the extraordinary fishing with light on a Bagan for his book project “Workers of the Sea”. He was inspired by the Arte reportage “Encounter with the Sea Peoples – The Bugis”. The opportunity arose for me to accompany Rolf, as I had already experienced the beauty of Borneo countless times and Rolf was aware of my love for the island. However, it took more than three years until our dream finally became true.
In February 2023, the time had finally come. We needed three days to reach our destination Talisayan, a small picturesque fishing village in East Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. To get there, we first flew from Hanover via Singapore to Surabaya. After a night in the airport hotel, we continued the next morning by plane via Balikpapan to Berau. Once there, we had to organise a driver for onward transport the next day and a hotel in Talisayan. We were lucky to find a great driver and guide. He brought us safely to our destination the next day in five hours over the 150 km bumpy road. Once on site, he organised everything for us so that we were able to photograph the story in eight days.
For me it was a great experience to be able to photograph the story together with my friend Rolf Nobel. Moreover, I am very happy that I was also able to contribute something to the story in Stern. The article “Flood and Light” is still available online as a Stern Plus article.
