Nyimas Laula
Denpasar, Indonesia
Nyimas Laula is an Indonesian photojournalist and documentary photographer whose works focus on environmental and human rights issues across the country. She began her journey in 2015 and has since worked with Reuters, T…
Seen in The New York Times, The Guardian
The Priests Revered in the Land of Five Genders
Reporting style, Factual: Reported feature grounded in descriptive reporting, with little explicit opinion.
Bissu, spiritual leaders in South Sulawesi’s Bugis communities who are understood to embody both male and female traits, lead ceremonies marking events such as births, weddings and deaths. At a rice-planting ritual in Segeri, they perform ma’giri, a dramatic self-stabbing ceremony in which they appear unharmed. The gathering also celebrates gender fluidity and the bissu’s centuries-old place in local religious and cultural life.
My friend died in a diving accident. Then I was arrested for his murder
Reporting style, Informative: A largely factual first-person account, shaped by the author's memories and reflections on the traumatic experience.
In 2002, Czech diver Dan Frolec was on a Croatian sailing trip when his friend Michael disappeared inside an underwater cave. A Croatian coastguard diver also died during the recovery attempt, after which police arrested Frolec and fellow diver Ivo on suspicion of murdering Michael. Held in jail and facing up to 40 years in prison, Frolec was subjected to questioning, a lie-detector test and forensic scrutiny. Evidence from the divers' testimony, Michael's dive computer and DNA testing ultimately undermined the murder theory, showing that supposed bloodstains on the boat were caused by mooring ropes. Frolec and Ivo were released after nearly a month. The ordeal continued to shape Frolec's views on freedom, risk and friendship, although he still dives and now lives in Bali with his wife Jarka and their children.
