Volcano Farmers
Sato Kam | Kintamani, Indonesia
Photographer: Sato Kam
Exhibit Title: Volcano Farmers
Location: Kintamani, Indonesia
November 2023. I had the chance to visit the Kintamani region in Bali.
The region is inhabited by the Bali agha (original Bali) ethnic minority, most of whom are Hindus. This ethnic group holds fast to the Tri Hita Karana (three happiness causes) philosophy based on Hinduism and consisting of the three pillars of good relationships with the gods, other men and the environment.
In the Kintamani zone, land use is categorized as residential, agricultural or forest. The agricultural area is the largest and consists of rainfed farms and rice fields.
Kintamani Bali Arabica coffee is one of the main agricultural products of the zone and is usually grown under shade trees –
mainly citrus, banana and perennial legume trees. Citrus is another major cash crop for farmers, while a number of them also grow annual crops – chillies, yams, sweet potatoes and vegetables.
Here’s the result of my wandering through the mountains and around Lake Danau Batur.
I am Sato Kam. I use photography as main medium to explore various themes such as identity, social transformation and self-preservation. I use mainly digital, but 35mm film as well, and draw my ideas from all sources, sometimes mixing everything in a post-photographic approach, using AI tools.
My photographs are spurred by seeking shadows, graphic elements, movements of bodies to oppose "what's inside" with "what's outside". I am working from both intuition and story telling, on streets and in my studio, based in Montreal. I explore creation avenues, at the crossroad of experimental sociologizing, conceptual, portraiture and street reportage.
Unveiling the peculiar and the awkward to make them more accessible and intelligible is a joy. Be close. Be inside. See outside.
Above all, I am stubbornly seeking to express what my conscious mind has not yet organized.
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