Malaysia: Heart of Southeast Asia
Posted on 02. Apr, 2010 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books, Heart of Southeast Asia
Malaysia: Heart of Southeast Asia
Photographs by 46 of the World’s Finest Photographers
Archipelago Press. 1991. Singapore. ISBN 981-002733-8
Description
Paul Sochaczewski (in this book writing as Paul Wachtel) wrote about the nature of Malaysia in the long chapter “Nature: The Goddess with a Thousand Faces”. The book features the specially-commissioned images of 46 of the world’s most famous photographers.
Sample chapter
A weak burst of heat lightning illuminates a two-meter leatherback turtle that has plodded ashore to lay her eggs, as her kind have done for millions of years.
Where a river meets the sea, a “Dutch monkey” watches a man throw a fishing net.
A Penan in the Borneo forest silently aims his blowpipe to kill a gibbon.
A fisherman paints a bird’s eye on the prow of his fishing boat to bring good fortune.
A visitor, stopping for a rest while climbing Southeast Asia’s highest mountain, marvels at a pitcher plant murdering its dinner.
An Iban watches the flight of birds along an inland river, and decides not to go to his farm that day.
A laborer with a chainsaw sends a towering dipterocarp crashing to earth.
A physician prescribes edible birds nests to treat a persistent cough.
Nature in Malaysia is a Goddess of a Thousand Faces. People see in her what they wish – vulnerability, majesty, food, a cosmic balance, spirits. People look at Nature and see themselves – warrior, hunter, hustler, voyager, parent, student, poet.
Nature has blessed Malaysia. The country’s geography, climate and varying topography have created a natural feast. Because Malaysia has such a wide variety of environments – forests, wetlands, mountains and seas, it hosts a bewildering variety of life.