Unseen Asia 2012 Winners

 

January 2012
France-based natural photography lover Francesco Formisano took his photograph on a trip to Bario, a cluster villages nested in the highlands in the heart of Sarawak, Borneo where the indigenous Kelabit people live. The mother and child shown here are part of a community of Kelabit families who mine for salt in salt springs that lay a two-hour trek away from their homes. Water containing precious mineral salt is dredged up from wells dug deep into the ground, carried in buckets to a small hut and boiled over fires in close proximity until only the salt os left, then packed into the hollow of bamboo shoots cut from the surrounding area. Families stay for weeks at a time, sleeping in the hut with the fire and the smoke. Amidst this setting is this beautiful mother and child, whose deep, sparkling eyes are reminiscent of the waters in mine.

Photo: Francesco Formisano