Photographer
LUCIA GRIGGIWords and Photos Lucia Griggi
Rumor and myth. The murkiness of time. Before modern communications, people were told stories and this is how they learned about the distant past. In our educated smugness, we forget that not all people around the world are literate. Storytellers. Legends. In some parts of the world, these traditions continue. The great tales of our ancestors are handed down generationally. We learn. It isn’t always important that all the facts of the story are true, it is only important that we continue to tell it. Fiji. The island of Beqa holds a mysterious fascination for people. A legend exists. On Beqa, there are firewalkers. There are men who walk on white-hot incandescent flame and coals. No fear. Painless and pure. They were handed down this timeless gift from those that came before them. It is rumored that a certain Chief would tell stories to his tribe. Entertainment. Such were his tales that villagers would do anything in order to hear them. One day, he asked them to bring him a gift in exchange for a story. A fisherman went to bring him an eel and instead, pulled a spirit god out of the water. In exchange for his freedom, the spirit god gave the fisherman the power over fire. The story tells of the fisherman making the spirit god prove this gift to him by building a huge fire right there on the beach. The spirit god stepped onto the sparking fire and roaring coals. He beckoned to the fisherman. The spirit god opened his mouth and spoke in a lost language that the fisherman had never heard. It was the voice of reason and fury. He didn’t know what the words meant, but he understood. “Come. Be not afraid.” The fisherman stepped into the fire and his destiny. Since that time, the islanders of Beqa and its sister island Yanuca, have been able to walk on fire, heal wounds and live a happy and peaceful existence.
“Land is the secure ground of home, the sea is like life, the outside, the unknown.” - Stephen Gardiner
Camera info:
Shot with a Canon 5D mk 111
Underwater images with SPL waterhousing and a 15mm 2.8 fisheye lense.
Documentary style with 85mm 1.2 canon and 5d mark 111
Lucia Griggi Photography
http://www.luciagriggi.com/http://www.luciagriggi.com/blog/lgriggi@me.com
Skype: lucia.griggi24
(us) 1 760 215 3994
