CATALOG OF ZAHIR BATIN episode I

8/12/2019 CATALOG OF ZAHIR BATIN episode I

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Limited Edi on Signed, Fine Art Prints

Photography by : Zahir Ba nMaterial : Giclee Print on Archival-grade, Fiber Base

Ma (Delta) 285gsm Fine Art Paper (Archival lifespanof up to 200 years on Hewle Packard Vivera Pigment)Size : 51 cm x 69cmYear : 2014


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George Lucas, created for the world, a story. 37 years have passed, and hisstory con nues to live.Star Wars changed us; it provoked our minds and broke down the walls of normalcy.

George Lucas was a revolu onist. His manipula on of special effects established what the future might or can beand gave new meaning to the word epic. But how Star Wars ul mately changed the way in which reality wasseen, was beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

Like the unpredictability of a volcano, Star Wars erupted the crea on of a new language, so much so that in1983, President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as the The Evil Empire. He spoke about the USStrategic Defence ini a ve that used space-based lasers and missiles to protect US from any nuclear a acks.Reagan was a Jedi Master of his own accord.

Between 1978 and 1986, approximately 250 million Star Wars gurines were sold. That meant, almost every childin the world wanted to own one. Then again, come to think of it, those numbers could have included adults likeyou and I. Fast forward to 2011, the Volkswagen Passat commercial depicted a young boy dressed as Darth Vadera emp ng to use the force to start the car. His reac on was priceless. One can easily tell; the force was strongin that one. In fact, Gamin took this craze one step further by installing a Darth Vader voice op on in their GPSdevices to guide us to our des na on. Lets just hope that it isnt the Dark Side that he will be taking us to.

But, the ques on is Why Star Wars?

Strip off technology, special effects, lasers, space shu le, machines and odd looking creatures George Lucasbrought us a story of humanity. The core of our existence. And thats why the strong affilia on with Star Wars.

It was a story about us, our ba le against evil.

Did you know 50,000 years ago, we Homo Sapiens (thats what were called scien cally) trashed our otherrela ves - Homo Erectus, Homo Floresiensis, Neanderthals and Denisovans in the evolu on of life making us thesole survivors of our kind? Scien sts speculated that the reason for this is our ability to collaborate, care, forgive,create and connect with each other. These reasons are deep wired in us from our ancestors. Mr Lucas brilliantlyused this as a basis of his story, masking it with technology and eccentricity.

May 25, 1977


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He was a genius because he didnt follow the ways of Isaac Asimov or H.G Wells whose work revolved around hardscience c on, technology, robots and futuris c elements.

Now, think about the Force. Obi-Wan consistently reminded Luke to use the Force. Most of us can relate theForce to religious beliefs be it - Islam, Chris anity, Jewish or Buddhism. Even Atheists believe the way to salva onlies within. We were taught to use the force as a guide in our lives, and that once found, can make us heroes.

When Obi-Wan said, You are going to nd that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own pointof view did your light bulb lit up? Think about it, for someone who suffers from Osteoporosis taking theescalator one oor up is a life saver but to others can be perceived as laziness. Was Luke Skywalker a hero orterrorist? All of these depend on which side of the Death Star you were on when he blew it to pieces. We can applythese possibili es to many aspects in our lives, in religious beliefs, poli cal party alliances, race divisions andsocietal construc ons.

We were reminded that fear and anger leads to the dark side. Yoda warned Luke that he was not ready to ght inthe Empire Strikes Back; but Luke was young, nave, angry and impa ent. He failed but only later realised thatYoda was not only correct, but the Dark Side was a rela ve. This we relate to, because the concepts of good overevil, pa ence, redemp on are so hardwired in us.

Yoda tells us to believe in ourselves when he said, Do or do not. There is no try. And we live to remember thisa er so many years. Its hilarious that the voice of Frank Oz who played Yoda who also was the voice of Miss Piggyin The Muppets can have such an everlas ng impact on us.

And nally .....

Luke Skywalker we easily resonate with because he was just a plain boy, who grew up in a farm with his aunt anduncle, hoping, dreaming that someday he can make a difference. Who doesnt love a story of underdogs whobecome heroes? It worked with tales of Hang Tuah, Oliver Twist and Harry Po er among others. Humanity is inour veins, we are driven by tales of triumph and tribula ons. And hence the strong bond with Star Wars.

A local television translated Vaders, You will now pay for your lack of vision to Sekarang awak akan menjadi buta. Some were so offended that if they could, they would probably stage a protest at the sta ons premise with theirlightsabers !

May 25, 1977 was 37 years ago, but in 37 years to come, Star Wars I believe, will con nue to live.

And yes, the Force is strong in this one. May the Force be with you, too.


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There is a place...

Situated 15 kilometres away from the district of Kuala Selangor, Tanjong Karang is the shing and paddy-growingheart of Selangor. A long canal starts from this town and ends in Sabak Bernam. It was rst built during the colonialera and was known to the locals as Bangkenal. The canal was a source of livelihood to the community as it is usedfor freshwater sh farming, growing paddy and for agricultural ac vi es. But what is divinely special aboutTanjong Karang is the serenity that engulfs you when you look at the landscape of whats in front of you, thegreenery of the paddy elds that goes as far as the eyes can see. It is magical how an unobstructed view of greensand shing boats coupled with fresh air can ll your heart with peace and calmness.

There is a man...

When he spoke about his hometown, the rst words he used to describe the place were peace and safe. Hegrew up spending his me unpreten ously; kite ying, shing, playing marbles and sandal wars yes, a glamorousname for our local sport baling selipar. That was his life. When asked, what will bring the world to TanjongKarang, he responded by saying Its a peaceful place with beau ful scenery but please dont come, let it remainthat way. It was Tanjong Karang, his safe haven that he was talking about a er all.

This man was able to iden fy with Luke Skywalker naturally as he understood what it meant to grow up being

surrounded by greenery. Whilst the rest of us allowed the force to intervene with our feelings and emo ons, heallowed the force to wander around his imagina on, slowly visualising the landing of Star Wars in his special land,Tanjong Karang.

It wasnt difficult to bring his thoughts to live. All he needed was a second hand camera that he could afford tocapture his imagina on. The selec on was a Canon EOS 1000D. The rst photo I took was of the former owner ofthe camera, he quipped proudly. As the Rebels celebrate the end of the Empire, he rekindled the story again withnature, chickens, the paddy eld, the river and of course with Star Wars gurines. This storyteller, he is called Zahir

Ba n.

There are photographs...

Zahir Ba ns work is simply special because he tells a tale through his produc on. They say a picture paints athousand words and so does his. It may come as a surprise that Zahir has never had any formal educa on inphotography. He is fortunately armed with crea vity, imagina on and humility. It wasnt fame that he was lookingfor when he captured these photos, all he really wanted was to tell the story of Star Wars in a local se ng.

Want to see what happened a er the Storm Troopers & Gang balik kampong? You would nd the answers here:Zahir Ba n Episode 1.

ZAHIR BATINEPISODE I


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SHELTER


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MASTER OF WISDOM


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A NEW HOPE

RAINY DAY


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CHIPS & BEEPS

OBEY ME


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AMBUSH


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IMPERIAL AT-AT CROSSING


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STUNT TROOPER

WILD WILD WEST


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ETERNAL REST

WILD WILD WEST


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FISHING DAY

LITTLE FARM


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CHILDISH

LITTLE FARM

BOUNTY HUNTER


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UNWILLING FAREWELL

DILARANG MASUK


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PIGGY BACK


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THE THUGS

INTERCEPT


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SOUVENIR

FACE TO FACE


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BERSERK


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THE TROPHIES

EMPTY HAND COMBAT


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THE HEADHUNTER


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MEMORIAL SERVICE


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IM DONE

DEPRESSION


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AMOK

SPEED LIMIT


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RESCUE MISSION

CAPTAIN ONTHE WHEELS


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THE WHEELS

PEACEFULDAY


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THE SAVIOR

INDEPENDENCE DAY


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IMPERIAL CONCERT


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The Making.....

Zahir Ba ns photographs are made by basic ingredients, simple steps and pure passion. Shoo ng during theweekends and having to manage me, he applies these basic steps to create various epic scenes:

Story BoardingWhenever an idea comes across his mind, he draws them and creates a story board. This is a must process, so heknows where he should place each gurine in each shot.

Props aka side actorsThese props can consists of twigs, wires, shing rod, strings, match s cks, chickens, ducks, li le houses, a nyboat, anything that he can get his hands on around his home in Tanjong Karang. He is a er all, very imagina ve.

Quality of the lightSince Zahir depends on natural light, it is important for him to plan the me of day at which he shoots his photos.He chooses to work early morning or mid-a ernoon, as this will mean that he gets sufficient light to work with andit wont be too strong. There are mes when he has to wait for the right amount of clouds , just to get the light hedesires.

ViewpointZahir considers his subjects carefully before deciding the right viewpoint as it has a massive impact on thecomposi on of his photographs. He takes several shots from various view point high above, down at groundlevel, from the side, from the back and so on. Photography is always a surprise, he says. Some mes the bestphoto can come from a surprising viewpoint.

Dura onHe spends between 1 to 2 hours to shoot each photo. Just so you know why that is; apparently chickens haveemo ons. When crea ng Li le Farm, he has to wait for the right moment when the chickens calm down and havea be er expression on their look. No kidding!

Photo Edi ngAdobe Photoshop helps Zahir to easily edit, retouch and restore his photos in a non-destruc ve manner. He usescommands found in the Image Adjustments op on such as curves, colour balance and levels. He also uses mul plelayering technique and noise reduc on to get a sharper look. Par cularly since these photos are shot at close uprange, he has to ensure that the subject gets the viewers undivided a en on and the story he intends to tellpasses through.

Zahir basically starts with having sweeping imagina on and visualising a story in his head. Once he is drawn uponan image, he captures it. Then he simply let the magic happen...


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Project TeamAzhar Ahmad


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ARTCUBE3-10 & 3-13, Level 3, Intermark Mall, The Intermark, 348 Jalan Tun Razak,50400 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

artcube_gallery

www.artcube.com.my

artcubegallery

artcube

[email protected]

019 330 9984 (Azhar)019 242 1118 (Fuad)

June 2014 ARTCUBE

All right reserved. No part of this publica on maybe reproduced or transmi ed in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,or any other informa on storage and retrieval system, without prior permisson inwri ng from the published.

Azhar AhmadFuad SallehKamaliah Azhar

WriterSarah Hidayah Mubarak

Hairol IzmaAr st Management


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CATALOG OF ZAHIR BATIN episode I

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