The German magazine (Max) that requested a photo of mine (“Nocturnal Emission”) last week has asked for a short write-up to represent the image. Please keep in mind I wrote this in only a few minutes and it’s pretty much a first draft effort. I’m posting it here for some constructive feedback. I know it’s a bit cheezy, so go easy on me! 😉

Having lived in Jakarta, Indonesia for the past four years, I have captured many aspects of life in this exotic land. However, I’ve never attempted to show the phenomenal growth of the mega-structures that encompass Jakarta like a fortified defence.

Trudging up to the construction site, I began to get a sense of the severe lack of rules enforced in this country. No one stopped me, no one questioned me, and furthermore some workers even guided me to the industrial elevator. Gazing up at the raw concrete and steel monstrosity, I suddenly detected an absence of nets or safety equipment. My heart thumped through my chest at the thought of scaling this giant.

Moments later a worker asked me if I’d like to ride to the top. Climbing into the elevator, I knew immediately I was making a potentially fatal decision; the floor of the cage was rusted through so badly that I could view the ground disappear beneath our feet. With every whir and clank, we rose to terrifying heights. I stepped off at the 18th floor of the naked beast, and immediately noticed an army of workers pounding away under the open sky. The steel re-bar created a natural frame catching the floodlights like tentacles of industry grasping for the future.

As I wandered around the construction site, I realized that progress never sleeps. That greed is never satiated, and that man will incessantly strive to discharge nocturnal emissions into the night sky so long as lust for power prevails.