Today, we’re featuring a beautiful Maldives travel story from photographer Jonathon Page. Here is more from Jonathon about his time in South Asia…
Last December, I travelled to the Maldives with some of my family for a celebration. Knowing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I packed my full camera kit as I wanted to document as much of it as possible. As it turned out, I used my film kit way more than digital – shooting film seems to remove you much less from the moment… Probably because there’s no way to chimp after taking a shot and reshoot if it’s not exactly as you’d hoped!
I had a roll of Ektar 100 left, and a pro-pack of Portra 160 to use. Both of which exceeded my expectations of capturing the beautiful colors of the island! And what a collection of islands the Maldives are… Perky sand banks peeking above sea-level, teaming with ocean wildlife (sharks, rays, coral fish, etc.), all shaded by luscious green palms, interrupted only by sandy paths leading to luxurious wooden villas.
Being so close to sea-level, the Maldives are increasingly environmentally conscious, and the island we visited found ingenious ways to recycle waste from tourism. It would appear that bottles can be used as anything from garden borders to chandeliers to creating a greenhouse to grow vegetables for the kitchen. The staff work hard to maintain their island, often repairing damage brought by tropical storms or moving sand around the island a ton-at-a-time by hand due to the sea constantly moving it to the ‘wrong’ side of the island.
I hope these images go some way to transporting you to paradise in the heart of the Indian Ocean.
Analog cameras and films used: Leica M3 (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay) | Kodak Portra 160 (Find on Amazon), Kodak Ektar 100 (Find on Amazon)
Connect with Jonathon: Instagram
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