Solomon's Treasure

I bought two masks at an antique store in Melaka. The white one was used in the creation of "Butterfly Dream", and the gold one was used for the idea of "Solomon's Treasure".

Since I was a child, I have been interested in stories about treasure hunting. The plot of an explorer escaping danger, finding treasure, and then surviving again against the odds fascinates me.

When I received this mask, I immediately found inspiration. A picture came to mind. In the dark surroundings, the mask glowed from underneath, as if countless gold and silver jewels were hidden there, waiting to be discovered.

This image had been lingering in my mind for weeks. I felt it was time to bring it into reality.

Photography

To set up the background, I used about 40 kg of red soil, which I spread in a rectangular tray measuring 3' high x 4' wide x 3' deep.

Then I watered the surface to create a rough texture. I placed a few shells and dried branches to enhance the atmosphere.

I used two torches in the shoot. The first was placed in the top left corner to highlight the texture. The other was used on the mask for light painting.

Under the mask, I placed a 30-watt bulb to create the glowing effect.

This created a huge contrast, and the exposure was challenging. If I metered the surface of the mask, the rest would appear overexposed.

Conversely, if I metered the bright areas, the mask would appear underexposed.

“photography brings me infinite spiritual satisfaction, and that is a treasure in itself.”

So I metered the mid-tone part of the soil, then used another torch to "paint" the mask a few times to get it sufficiently exposed.

It is important to emphasize that with a film camera, there is no preview function. You have to wait for the film to be developed before you know what is going on.

I used the bracketing technique, trying different exposure times: 1 second, 2 seconds, 4 seconds, 8 seconds, 16 seconds, and so on.

I found that a 4-second exposure was just enough to "paint" the mask for a proper exposure.

The entire shoot and setup took several days.

When I held the fruit of this work in my hand, I could not help thinking that I might never find Solomon's treasure. But I had discovered another secret: photography brings me infinite spiritual satisfaction, and that is a treasure in itself. Do you agree?