More history…

I’m sitting here rather stunned, quite pleased, and yes, a bit nostalgic and sad.
When I was four, five, and six, we lived in the Ranau District of Sabah, now part of Malaysia. It was in the process of being turned over to Malaysia by the British who, at the time, were in charge.
My dad was a cultural anthropologist, also named Robert Harrison…case you’re wondering…and he was doing his field research, wife and child in tow.
I have a lot of memories, but never really thought I’d see the place again. As it turns out, I may never return (though it’s not out of the question), but I am getting to see the place again, through the eyes of my father and the photographs he took. At one time he had thousands and, sadly, they are lost. Somehow, I still have a box of old slides, papers, and some other things. I’m not quire sure how they survived, but I’m starting to scan them as I said in my last post.
Currently I have no order to them…they’re a bit random, though now that I can see that they can be scanned, I’ll probably try to organize them before continuing the process. Of course it might even be easier just to scan them, then use digital means to sort them into related subjects.
They are documentary in nature, but he did have a bit of an eye for composition. Further, he must have learned exposure pretty well as slide film is not nearly as forgiving as negatives for prints.
Here’s another example, a group of men and a woman laying out a framework for something. Note the rather large knives, parangs I believe. I used to have a child size one. Yep, everyone had big knives.

I’m intrigued by the woman entering the frame. I have another picture with a woman in it who is covering her face. I also recall, though I was very young and this was some 55 years ago, that not everyone would allow themselves to be photographed. Not so different from today.
I’ll have more on this going forward. It’s too late to do more tonight, but boy, am I anxious to see what other treasures these slides may hold.