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A Day in Argomulyo Village

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Photos and words by Lutfi Retno Wahyudyanti "We are the servants of our cows," Agus laughed while he harvested paddy. "Every day, we feed them, give them water, bathe them, and clean up their dung. They just stay in the shed and do nothing." Agus ( 62 years old ) spends three to five days a week harvesting other people's rice fields with a group of fellow farmers. They are not paid in cash. Instead, the landowner provides snacks and allows them to take home the paddy straw to feed their cattle. This is everyday life in Argomulyo, a village on the slopes of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta. Many of the villagers no longer own enough land to support their families. Some have no farmland and rely on seasonal work on other people's fields. Throughout the year, they help plant rice, spread fertilizer, remove weeds, and harvest crops. Some of these jobs are paid, while others are based on mutual assistance, with payment coming in the form of food or fodder rather than m...
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Life After Sulphur: The Shifting Economy of Ijen Crater

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Photo: Oleg B Words: Lutfi Retno Wahyudyanti Fifteen years ago, tourists visiting Ijen Crater, Banyuwangi, would meet hundreds of sulphur miners making their way up and down the mountain. They regularly climbed the 2,443-meter volcano before dawn using a torch. They bring a pair of empty wooden baskets and a crowbar to mine the sulphur.   Near the craters, miners pried chunks of sulphur from the volcanic deposits using crowbars. After loading their wooden baskets with 50–70 kilograms of sulphur, they walk for a two-hour journey down the mountain. They worked early in the morning because the toxic gases became more concentrated as the day approached noon. It was dangerous and exhausting work. The contrast between the miners' hardship, and the crater's beauty attracted photographers, journalists, filmmakers, and YouTubers from around the world.   Many of their stories focused on the miners’ risks working surrounded by poisonous gas for a little pay. Images of men carrying heavy ...
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A Kampong Between the Tides

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Photo: Yusran Uccang    I go sailing before dawn to earn a living, wandering alone above the waves, against the current — Samma Pammisi , a traditional Bajau song   Before sunrise, a stocky middle-aged woman rows a weathered wooden boat across Tomini Bay. As she paddles, she softly sings Samma Pammisi , a popular Bajau song about the life of a fisherman. Her name is Halima.   She steers toward a small, uninhabited island, ties her boat, and begins walking along the rocky shoreline. Her eyes were watching every crevice between the rocks. Suddenly, she thrusts her iron spear into a narrow gap. Found nothing, she moves and tries again. For hours, she repeats the same movement.   Near noon, Halima lets out a joyful shout. She has caught her third octopus of the day.  Three octopuses mean she can buy rice and medicine for her elderly parents—and save a little money. On calm days, she searches for whatever the sea still offers that has value.   "Nowadays, I ...
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