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89 Countries and Counting

Photography by Muriel Gustavson

Real World Image caught up with Muriel before she jetted off to Thailand yet again.

RWI: Who are you?
MG: I am a traveler. Prior to my retirement, when I wasn’t working as a teacher, social worker or counselor, I was traveling.

RWI: When did you first take up photography?
MG: I started taking photos when I was in high school

RWI: How long have you been a photographer?
MG: I have taken photos for many years but I have strived to become a photographer for about twenty years.

RWI: Why did you get into photography?
MG: I began to keep a record of friends, family and events in my life.

RWI: What was your first camera?
MG: My first camera was a Kodak Brownie, the black plastic model.

RWI: Have your photography travels been with work?
MG: No, most of my photos have had to do with my daily life and travels. Working in other countries provided me with the opportunity to do more of the same.

RWI: Why did you decide to become a photographer?
MG: I always enjoyed taking photos. I don’t know that I decided to become a photographer. My interest in photography evolved and grew over the years.

RWI: What kind of genre? Nature? People?
MG: Yes and also architecture. I enjoy taking photos of plants and flowers. People of all ages are interesting subjects. I like to focus on the shapes and lines in buildings as well as on the many types of decoration.

RWI: Give us some examples of where you have been. How many countries?
MG: I have traveled around the world a time or two. In 1967 I traveled overland from India to Europe. Since then I have really enjoyed traveling to places that are off the beaten path. Asia has been a large focus of my travels. Some wonderful destinations were Thailand, Bhutan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Mali and Chile (Easter Island). I have also had the opportunity to work in Thailand, Bahrain, Uganda, South Africa and Grenada. The latter three were summer volunteer projects that also provided great travel experiences. To date I have traveled to eighty-nine countries.

RWI: What is, in your opinion the best photo you have ever taken?
MG: I think it is probably a portrait of a former cannibal in Lolat, Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

RWI: Have you ever been confronted or faced danger while photographing in foreign countries?
MG: I foolishly took photos of some of the scenery near the Ecuador/Peru border in1976. Fortunately I was able to convince the officials that my film should not be confiscated.

RWI: Any nightmare stories while traveling and photographing?
NG: No nightmares but perhaps a few bad dreams. I was once isolated in a Malaysian immigration office on the Thai border. The officials had made me wait until everyone else had left the office. I had to pay a bribe to have my passport stamped so that I could return to Thailand.

RWI: You photograph a lot of people, how have people responded to you pointing the camera at them?
MG: Most people respond well to a request with a smile. I also think that they see me as being an unlikely looking solo traveler and show an interest in why I am there.

RWI: What is your most memorable experience while photographing and traveling?
MG: I think my most memorable travel and photography experience was a week spent in the remote tiny village of Lolat in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Some of the people still use stone axes. Visits in the women’s huts as they cooked vegetables with hot stones and shared stories were wonderful. Each day we hiked on trails, over amazing boulders through beautiful mountain scenery. The opportunities to take photos were many.

RWI: How do you rate film versus digital? What is better and why?
MG: I no longer have to worry about having enough film with me, obtaining some in remote places or having it ruined by x-ray machines. I like being able to use my digital photos with computer programs. I don’t like to have to wait that extra second or two to take a series of photos on my digital camera.

RWI: Has your equipment ever failed you on your travels?
MG: Yes. My trusty Nikon FE2 jammed at the beginning of my very special trip to Irian Jaya. Fortunately someone lended me their camera.

RWI: What is your best advice for the next generation of young photographers?
MG: Take lots of photos. Look at others photos. Train your eye. Be creative.

RWI: What was the scariest place you ever set foot into?
MG: In 1990 Laos had just begun to open up for tourism. I had the feeling that I could do something wrong and not know what it was. I felt a great sense of relief when I returned to Thailand. I have since traveled in Laos and felt quite safe and comfortable there.

RWI: What was the nicest place you ever set foot into?
MG: Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui in Thailand had only three sets of bungalows on its long sandy beach in 1977. Paradise!

RWI: Tell us about your experience with the people of Lolat in Irian Jaya.
MG: During the week I spent with friends in Lolat we spent a lot of time with the local people. One day we were invited to the home of the village chief, Cio. He regaled us with tales about raiding other villages and, on occasion, returning with a person that would be roasted and eaten. As he told stories, his wife, Dehike, prepared food for us. She had cooked some tasty green leaves and then placed them on a banana leaf. She added a small tin of mackerel to the leaves and began to stir them with a stick. It wasn’t long before she abandoned the stick and began to mix the fish and leaves with her hands. We noted how much cleaner her hands were looking now. Noticing my concern, my missionary friend assured me that the doctor in Wamena, the closest major centre, said that if the food was hot it should do no harm. It was and it didn’t.

RWI: You have incredible photos! Have you ever been published until now? If not why not? If so where?
MG: The only photos I have had published were in school yearbooks and following a volunteer project in Uganda. I have contemplated producing a book of photos and anecdotes. Perhaps that will happen in the not too distant future.

RWI: Are you still traveling and taking photos?
MG: Yes, I am still doing both. This year I have been to Malta, Tunisia, the Bahamas and to Florida and New Mexico in the USA. I have a trip planned to Thailand later in the year. My camera is always with me.

RWI: Thank you for your time.

It was very difficult to pick 16 out of thousands of photographs for this essay, but we will see more of Muriels essay's from across the globe in this section soon.

Muriel Gustavson’s photographs are licensed for worldwide publication.