Traveling is all about immersing yourself in an unfamiliar culture and meeting new people. When Utah photographer Chad Kirkland recently visited Bali on vacation, he did just that. His personal project, “People of Bali,” highlights the likable, diverse men and women that make the island such a beautiful place. As Chad says, he was honored to meet and photograph the Balinese people, who offered him so much “kindness, generosity and humility.”
We caught up with Chad to chat about the photos and his experiences on the tropical Indonesian island. Check out his portraits and read more below!
How does this project fit into your style?
I’d say it fits in pretty well with my style. I’m most intrigued by and passionate about portraits, especially portraits of “real people” and real stories, and that’s the direction I chose for this project. My wife and I took a honeymoon to Europe just after we got married last year and on our way back, our flight was overbooked. The airline offered generous vouchers if we would take a different flight home with additional layovers, so we jumped at the opportunity. My wife, Hillary, always wanted to go to Bali and after some research, I was easily convinced so we planned a trip, just before the vouchers expired almost a year later. When shooting travel photography, I tend to get overwhelmed with all the sights and sounds so I thought a clear plan and focus for this trip, photographically would help. That’s when I decide to focus on portraits. Focusing on photographing people is doubly rewarding, we ended up talking to and meeting so many cool people who we wouldn’t have normally.
Were there any challenges involved with this project?
The only big challenge I can think of is getting a bad case of “Bali Belly.” I was pretty much laid out for a good five days near the end of our trip, which forced us to change our plans and ultimately miss a few places we wanted to see.
Did you learn anything through the creation of this series?
I definitely learned a lot about approaching people and started to really favor the “shoot first, ask permission after” kind of logic. A lot of times I would ask permission to photograph someone and the moment was gone instantly. A lot of people would give me a double thumbs up and the cheesiest grin, which was really hard to direct them away from.
Chad has gotten a lot of great feedback about the project and hopes to turn it into a promo in the future. The series is also currently on display at Underbelly Creative in Salt Lake City.