Made Wijaya is a very old friend of mine. I was lucky enough to meet him on my first trip to Bali, in 1980, during Galungan. Made then was already nearly-Balinese, and it was he who first showed me Bali's complex face of magic and humanity. Made began photographing people as a kind of bhakti yoga, or ceremonial offering of work. In Balinese religious ceremonies, everyone participates in some way — splitting bamboo, or grating coconuts, or plaiting leaves for offerings. Made was always asked to take photographs. Afterwards he would give out little albums of the snapshots. People much less interested in photographs of the offerings than in portraits of people. This exhibition of portraits is divided into several categories — pairs, hats, smiles; and so forth —- but I see two main sorts, both of which are the result of an uncanny sympathy between the photographer and the subject. The first sort – which comprise most of the photographs here — is an instant of exchange between Made and the person he's shooting. I've often watching him photographing people. There's a flash of connection and then instantly the shot.
Notice the glow in the eyes, especially of children. The second sort is when he captures the mood and significance of an occasion in a single face, as in the young Japanese prince watching the sacred and solemn bedoyo ketawang dance at the kraton in Solo, or the magical suspense of the old baris gede dancer. The photographs here record a great variety of people in places all over Southeast Asia.
There are builders, priests, and housewives, all striking for the individuality of their beauty. This of course is a reflection of the photographer's ability to engage that beauty in the moment of encounter. It takes beauty to recognise it; it takes one to know one.

— Diana Darling