An old bicylce I found tucked in a corner in the Hindu temple complex at Tanah Lot in Bali. DiMAGE Z10 9mm at f/3.2 1/60 ISO 80
The old man tottered out of the house and found his bicycle leaning against the wall. He mounted the ancient conveyance and slowly pushed off into the traffic. His knees creaked as his feet found their way around the pedals for the first few times but slowly he picked up speed and soon he began to feel a cool breeze on his face that pushed away the heavy air he had been breathin. He knew that one day he would have to stop, that one day his body would no longer let him continue. But this was not that day.
My family and I were wandering around the temple complex at Tanah Lot and the crowd of tourists was and couvenir sellers was pretty formidable. There was a man with a really large python charging for photos with it and it was all quite antithetical to the idea of a quiet place of worship. I poked my head around a corner and found this wonderful bicycle propped into the corner and it was beautiful and quiet. It was all by itself and no one was paying it the least bit of attention. I loved it. I loved the texture of the metal frame and torn worn seat. I loved the piece of bamboo tied to the rack. I loved the large car mirror urused* on to the handle bars. I loved the partially inflated tire and the battered pedals. I loved this bike for all that it was and for all that it was not in this noisy busy place.
-Russell Berg
*urus: to cobble something together, to come up with a non-traditional solution, to find a way to fix something. It is one of my favourite Indonesian words