Don't Let The World Change Your Smile

This work by Yonathan Mulyadi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

"Forced smiles in photographs always look a little awkward,but real ones do more than help you look good."

     It is a place where technology is not so well-developed. Where residents still use the traditional way in everyday life. It is a place where nature is still very close to humans. Where peoples appreciate nature and nature embracing peoples.
     It is a place where long-distance communication technology is very limited. But the affection and closeness felt so real. Parent-child relationship is not only seen from the eyes. And what is seen by the eye is not a lie. Maybe they just live in the small restaurant along the walkway. Small place in a small island, where modern people call it primitive.

     This village is not my village, and they are not my neighbors, but I felt like I was in a safe place. Because the kindness. Because the attitude. Because the honesty in their eyes and their smile.

I'm just a stranger to them, but I don't know why and how they can give that expression. Maybe because everyone smiles in the same language.

(Kupang, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia)

Holiday Vacation. June 2012.