The colourful rice fields you find all over Asia are usually laid out in rectangular plots, or sometimes as stepped terraces, adding to their natural beauty. On the Indonesian island of Flores, however, the rice fields have a delightfully unique shape, resembling a giant spider's web.
This beautiful resemblance was not intentional, but rather the result of the traditional communal farming of the indigenous Manggarai people. Centuries ago, the cultivated land, known as lingko, was shared by the entire village. The communal fields were circular, with the lodok in the middle, where ceremonial rituals around the harvest were held.
Each family was assigned a portion of the rice field, which radiated outwards from the centre. (Each was inaugurated by sacrificing a water buffalo.) The more resources a family had, the bigger their share of the pie; at the time, the paddy fields were in the shape of circular charts. Later, the paddy fields were further subdivided by the descendants of the original owners, leading to the distinctive, web-like shape of today's lingko.
Photographer specialising in nature and macro photography and artistic portrait photography... Read more…