Spending 8 Weeks in Bali when…

… you only intended to spend a month makes for a great test on one’s nerve for the unanticipated. I didn’t want to go home. I had no reason to go home, so I stayed. As an artist living on the internets, I didn’t really need to go home. So, when it came time to send my passport to immigration to extend my stay I did so with gusto.

That was before my bank closed all my cards because of some fraud attack and Customs wouldn’t allow my replacement debit cards past the border. Heh, hehhhhhhh. Finding yourself cashless in a cash economy is a humbling experience. Thankfully, some good people took care of me and we were able to close all the loops after I returned to America. In the mean time, I had my camera to keep my mind engaged elsewhere.

Bali taught me the second most profound thing I know about traveling.

I don’t travel too often. Significantly less than most everyone assumes. I’ve been to eleven countries so far (I think) and I’m not really sure if being in a war zone really counts as “traveling.” So, you can knock two countries off that list.

In April I took myself on a trip to Bali and somehow managed to stay there for the full two months the visa allows despite the banking woes. It was beautiful. Here are the photos to prove it.

What are my profound discoveries about traveling?

Traveling is not just about going places, it’s about leaving them, too.
You can never escape yourself.
?
?

I went to Bali because… I could. Therefore, I felt I should. Also, I left Seattle to escape my personal trials only to find them still present and un-companionable when I woke under a different sky. So, there’s no running away from your trials. But, if you’ve got to work through them, why not do it in someplace like Indonesia.

I’m sure there are many more profound secrets that will reveal themselves as I experience more.

Camera Details for the nerds:
Nikon D800 & Sigma 24-70 f2.8 and that’s it. except for the one pano of volcano below (black and white) every image was photographed with this one camera and lens. In fact, nearly all the photos in my portfolio are shot with that combo.

Below

There’s a lot to click on below. Most of the photographs you can click on or tap to see in a Lightbox (a single image view). Enjoy! Leave a comment at the bottom and ask me anything :)

Don’t miss the Mobile Photography (shot on iPhone) section at the end.

Best viewed on a big screen.

My first photo in Bali. Uluwatu Surf Villas

Sunsets

Water & Waves

Portraits

When we saw this light there was pretty much no question that we would have to make this photo. But there was a line of people waiting to get up there and our patience was tested. This is a waterfall gorge in the jungle and when the sun is high the beams, filtered by foliage, strike the mist in the canyon and great these beautiful beams.

Click on any of the thumbnails below to see them in a lightbox.

A balinese man transports rice in a rig attached to his scooter on this curving road between rice fields north of Ubud, Bali Indonesia

Room For One and Their Dreams

Black and white photograph of a hammock over the ocean on a beach in Gili Air, Bali, Indonesia by Jason Matias

I returned to this spot for sunrise and sunset five or six times and didn't once think of getting into the hammock. Very few people did. This didn't strike me until just now. The scene was pretty, beautiful at times, but perhaps ostentatious in its singularity. The boldness of the idea that this hammock is for one person only and claiming it meant no one else could share it was too much for crowds on the beach, even me. Instead, no one reached for it, or only did so for the briefest moment. Collectively, everyone denied themselves and pressured each other to deny themselves this dream of a moment. The thought was, if everyone can’t have it, no one can.

But, are our dreams really meant to be shared? Does one person really reach for the hands of others and collectively step in the direction of their dreams, or does that person lead and pull others in their wake? I feel that not sitting in that hammock is emblematic of the way we place our dreams just far enough out in front of those around us to be on display, but don’t seize them as our peers look on because we have learned that behavior to be selfish. Stepping up to our dreams is stepping out of bounds, into the open, and beneath the scrutiny of those who think they don’t belong to you. It takes a different kind of person to fold themselves into that space hanging between the posts. A person, maybe, who is different than me.

If I ever return to Gili Air I hope I can take that seat in that hammock, watch a sunrise or sunset and that I can feel ownership over the moment as I should. Until then, “Room for one and their dreams” will be my visualization and my manifestation.

Room for One and Their Dreams is an edition of 5. Collect it here.

Rice Fields

Higher Self

Abstract photograph of the sun setting on water captured in Bali, Indonesia

My time in Bali grows more special to me as the year continues on. What began as a trip to get away from drama in my personal life morphed into a rewarding experience and a reminder of who I am and that the person I've been claiming to be (to myself mostly) is, in fact, who I want to be. That may sound like platitudes to you but maybe you have experienced moments in your life that are similar. As I sit and write this email to you from a cozy desk in BC, I am reminded of the small wins that have come over the past months. I am grateful to you for being a part of them and for joining me in these journeys on social, as collectors, and in spirit.

Please enjoy this new experience from Bali, "Higher Self." I captured it in a unique way, by putting all my trust in a stranger. I asked Gina to hold my hand as I pivoted myself against a ledge in the wall of the infinity pool and leaned way back until both our arms were outstretched and I was completely extended over two meters of saltwater with my only camera inches above the surface. I hovered there and tried to manipulate the focus and the shutter with one and align reflections while timing the tiny waves. It wasn't risky like scaling a mountainside is risky, but worry and excitement mingled with the light just the same!

Higher Self is my third release from Bali. See more, detail grabs and collection info here.

Sekumpul Waterfall in North Bali, Indonesia photographed by Jason Matias

I was the first person to arrive at Sekumpul this morning. That was no accident as I spent the entire night driving to get there. Luck was a factor, though, and I appreciate it being on my side that morning.

I explored many compositions that morning, even standing below the falls themselves. The tree called to me, at several times during the morning the sun broke through the clouds and flooded across the scene from left to right, catching the tree in it’s beam. It was beautiful to see and impossible to capture.

The tree standing in solidarity provided an opportunity to explore the ‘comfortable isolation’ theme I search for when I photograph. I love this idea of being alone in a great space. Just like being alone in your head, only, I wish I owned my own space as well as the tree owns its space. As I waited for this soft light to resettle in the area I considered how this tree might have been growing the way it had in order to reach that moment of light as it happened each morning.

Recent science allows for some sentience in the forest. Sentience allows for goal setting. I wonder what a tree might do after achieving a goal. What’s next for the tree? What’s next for me?

See detail grabs, and in-home renders, framed examples and info about collecting Sekumpul, Island of Gods, here.