Ap photographer Tatan Syuflana covered an international kite festival held in China. The huge event featured a staggering number of kites, and to get the story, Syuflana took images of everything from the kites in the sky to the workers sewing behind the scenes.
Syuflana explains, “I was on a two-month tour of duty in China when I got this assignment to cover the International Kite Festival in Weifang, China. The first thing that came up to my mind was to photograph the kite makers. Upon obtaining access to a workshop, I started exploring to see how they make those large kites. It wasn’t a large space, I had to move around carefully to not knock things over. Kite-making materials scattered all over the place but the workers seem to be able to find where things are. Almost like controlled-chaos, challenging but also fun to shoot. Loud noise from the sewing machines prevented me from talking to the workers but it was not really a big deal as I don’t really speak mandarin anyway, so I just communicate with hand gestures and the world’s universal language: smile on my face. Then I found this worker at a corner at the back of the workshop making finishing touches to a kite. I was unable to move freely due to the tiny space so I utilized my 16-35 f/2.8 with a bit high angle, intentionally cropped her face to show the details of her craftmanship.”
AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana. Sony Alpha 1, Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master lens.
Syuflana continues, “The second photo was from the festival itself. After spending some time observing the field where the event was held, there is one participant that caught my eyes. He was flying large kites in the shape of pandas. His technique was different, as he flew his kites with some kind of blower instead of relying on the wind like the others. I ran towards him and took few snaps with my A1 and 16-35 f/2.8. Thanks to the ‘quick reaction’ of the camera, I managed to get few photos of the kites before it flew to high and I think it suitable represents China with the pandas.”
AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana. Sony Alpha 1, Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master lens.
