One day I was visiting the home of Yohannes Mopa, a historian, linguist, and folklorist in Bajawa, Indonesia, when this chicken ran into the house and hopped up onto the sofa beside me. Yan didn’t bat an eye—not even when, to my surprise and delight, she popped out an egg. “She likes it in here,” he said. “Sometimes I have to catch the eggs so they don’t roll onto the floor.”
I can’t help chuckling as I watch this even now, more than two years later. With that remove, I felt free to alter the video by turning it into a GIF, effectively translating it into the language of internet comedy. The chicken lays her egg on the couch over and over again, just like in real life. You can still see the tattered sofa covering, and the split-bamboo walls painted the same green as the Indonesian army base just blocks away. You can no longer hear the children playing, the growl of passing motorbikes, or my own astonished laughter.
The “Single Shots” visual anthropology series is edited by Natasha Fijn.
Find previous entries in the “Single Shots” series here.
