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Top of the Morning: A porter prepares green bean porridge at a jungle camp in Ujung Kulon National Park
"That's our head porter making a hearty breakfast of green bean porridge—which I found disgusting. After shooting at sunrise, I'd return to camp to have breakfast. The porridge is a typical Indonesian breakfast dish which we ate along with nasi goreng [fried rice], fried eggs and potatoes.
"This porter was a general handyman. He cooked and set up camp. The porters were amazing, really wonderful—they even carried my camera equipment all the way through the jungle on large bamboo poles that rested on their shoulders."
—Photographer Martin Westlake
Photography Notes
- Camera: Sinar F2 View camera, 4x5"
- Film: Type 55 Polaroid
- Lens: 210mm
- Shutter speed: 1/30th
- Aperture: f/8
- Time of day: 7 a.m.
"The 4x5" I used is actually a studio camera, similar in design to those used by photographers in the early 20th century. The camera weighs about 4-5 kilos (11-14 pounds), but I take it out into the field, as do other landscape photographers. I enjoy the mechanical nature of using an old view camera and love the results achieved by a larger negative.
"With a 4x5", subjective focus can be enhanced, blurring the foreground or the background, to make a very short depth of field. I like the effects brought about by the tilting and swinging of the lens standard to blur out or focus different areas of the picture."
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