In March of 2009 photographer Jason Houston traveled with writer William deBuys to Central Kalimantan on Indonesian Borneo to document several communities along the border of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve. Houston and deBuys were traveling on assignment for Rare, a Virginia-based NGO with programs throughout the developing tropics, to depict the social complexities facing international conservation work as context for Rare’s grassroots Pride program. The individuals Houston and deBuys photographed and interviewed ranged from village leaders to palm oil plantation workers to reserve rangers to conservationists. By attempting to understand the social and environmental complexity of the communities living in these tropical forests, Houston and deBuys are challenging conventional practices in conservation in the developing world that prioritize biodiversity and preservation of habitat ahead of the role that local community members can play as active participants—even leaders—in sustainable solutions and models shaping the future of our planet.
For updated information on exhibitions and presentations of this project, please see my exhibitions and presentations page or visit www.peopleoftheforestexhibition.com.
The 20″x30″ archival pigment ink prints are hand-mounted to lauan plywood and coated in a variety of gel mediums with a varnish finish. The use of the specific plywood (a low-grade construction material and a primary product driving the cutting of large tropical hardwoods in the region) implies complicity: We all contribute to the destruction of these forests through pressure caused by an insatiable demand for cheap wood and the ubiquitous use of palm oil in everything from food to plastics to cosmetics to bio fuel.