André Arment

Lawas

There are times when our attention wanders like a gently meandering river. The simple wooden boat, in which a man pushes along a woman carrying a parasol, passes our eyes in front of dark green mountain slopes. Though the boat is travelling with the river from right to left, our gaze moves in the opposite direction. Lured down from above by the light green trees on the river bank, it first attaches to the lady with the red dress. From there it travels slowly to the right, against the current, and is lifted up towards the light coming from the mountain top. It then turns a circle in the lush treetops but, before getting caught there, travels down again, as if the rock in the river were magnetic. Here it dives into the water and draws back, as if saying goodbye, seeking to take in the picture as a whole. Colour, light, and content are in a perfectly balanced harmony. The image, with its picturesque tone, becomes an allegory of life. Indonesian photographer André Arment has captured it with all of its sensual dimensions.

Stephan Reisner