A Malaysian photographer journeys to Spain in pursuit of the places and people that inspired the story of the iconic knight Don Quixote, writes HIMANSHU BHATT
THERE is a scene in the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha where the comic hero is deluded into seeing evil giants when there are actually windmills. He attacks them on his horse only to be flung out by one of the moving sails.
The expression “tilting at windmills” or “fighting windmills”, referring to reacting towards imaginary threats, comes from this story.
When Nikt Wong
(picture below)lifted his camera in front of the great windmills of Molino in Spain, asking for a joust was one of the last things on his mind. But there were no illusions of what lay ahead of him.
The 35-year-old Malaysian photographer was selected last year to traverse a dozen sites in Spain that are related to scenes told in the 17th Century literary work of author Miguel de Cervantes.
Covering more than 1,000 kilometres by car over 11 days in the hot month of June, Wong came across people and places that had both survived and changed since the novel was first written in 1605.
The expedition, organised by the Spanish agency Espana Cooperacion Cultural Exterior, was held in conjunction with the 400th anniversary celebrations of the publication.
Wong’s photographs from the tour are on display at an exhibition entitled Spain Through the Lens of a Malaysian Photographer: the Route of Don Quixote at the USM Museum & Art Gallery in Penang.
Written in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel relates the story of a senile old man named Don Quixote who thinks he is a chivalrous knight.
Enlisting the services of a trusted squire Sancho Panza, who is actually a reluctant labourer, Don Quixote rides on a weak barn horse across the plains of Spain, dreaming that he is fighting dangerous enemies for his love Dulcinea, a peasant girl whom he regards as a princess.
In his comic adventures he comes across — robbers, pilgrims, corrupted nobles, priests, separated lovers, all of whom he assumes to be characters from his fantasy.
“Initially I hoped to capture the symbolism of the two contrasting characters of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in my work,” Wong said in an interview. “But it was a little optimistic to do that in just 11 days.”
What Wong did get was a rich spread of images that reflect the culture and landscape of southern Spain which inspired the novel’s memorable setting.
Travelling through the wine country of Valdepanas, the ancient fort city of Toledo, the lush green lakeside of Las Lagunas de Ruidera and the gentle town of Puerto Lapice, Wong found an absorbingly beautiful setting preserved over time.
“The landscape and people have not changed much since 400 years ago,” he says of the churches, castles and sleepy farms he came across.
“It was interesting to see these historical places in the context of the modern world today.
“Don Quixote is quite big in those parts. He is a recognised icon, especially for tourism.”
Interestingly, Wong turned to photography only about four years ago, stirred by his travels through India and the old silk route of Central Asia.
Drawn by the promise of his camera “to capture the real instead of the fluff”, he abruptly ended his multimedia business and threw himself into travel photography.
He has since engaged in various ventures, including one to document Sufi culture in Afghanistan and another on the Kalbelian women gypsies of India.He is now involved in a project to photograph old communities in inner city Kuala Lumpur.
Perhaps, in some ways, Wong is like the dreaming Don Quixote — giving up an old life, aspiring for a new one full of adventure.
And just as the fictional knight had the watchful Sancho Panza to guide him in his fantasies, Wong has his camera, with its trusted eye helping him to capture the realities of a strange world he has chosen to journey through.
Spain Through the Lens of a Malaysian Photographer will be held at the USM Museum & Art Gallery, Penang, till Oct 15. For details call 04-6533888 ext 3261/3267/2137 or visit www.niktwong.com. 
