I’ve been working, slowly, on some posts about living in sync with the land and this has been on my mind a lot lately. I often feel like people aremissing the boat when it comes to all this “green” stuff. Of course, that’s not to say there isn’t some seriously great stuff out there but not everything hits or comes close to the mark. Sometimes people are wrapping things in unidentified green objects, putting things and processes in places that may not make the most sense and many end up trying too hard resulting in the creation of something ultimately far too complicated to be considered for mainsteam success.

While I am a huge fan of thinking way outside the box and throwing out any and all ideas no matter how absurd…because you just never know where an idea could ultimately lead…I think there is something to be said about simplicity. I think that sometimes people are not listening to what the land is trying to tell them about how things should be done or where they should go.

In thinking of this, I recalled some photographs from friend and photojournalist Kevin German who has been living in Vietnam since March of 2008 in search of exploring and capturing various areas of life in SE Asia. One of his first shoots was of the salt harvest which was just coming to a close when he arrived. Typically the season runs through the driest months from January to March.

The salt harvest is one of those great example of life in sync with the land…natural processes informing the way of life. The salt for the harvest is produced naturally by solar evaporation from the sea water. The salt is harvested completely by hand, using a rake to break up the crust that forms as a result of the evaporation of the water and settling of the salts. It isn’t just an act of farming, it’s a way of life and in that it becomes an art form. And unfortunately, perhaps a dying artform in the face of pressure and progress.

Kevin’s images capture this beautiful harvest through his amazing images with the salt glistening under the sunlight as it is formed into simple mounds and gathered in hand made baskets for transport. While this can seem off topic, I think the harvest is not only beautiful but a great reminder that we don’t always need super fancy technology and complicated designs to achieve the goal.

images via Kevin German