John Stanmeyer is one of the founding members of the photo cooperative VII and his work appears regularly in the National Geographic and Time. He has won the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award and honors from World Press Photo and Pictures of the Year International. James Estrin spoke with him about his new book, “Island of the Spirits,” while Mr. Stanmeyer was at home in the Berkshires making five-foot-long prints for an exhibit opening on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the VII Gallery, 28 Jay Street, Brooklyn. Their conversation has been edited and condensed.

Q.

Why did you use film? Why a Holga camera?

A.

I didn’t want to just create another pretty-colored coffee-table book on Bali. Because the culture in Bali is so weighted in the traditions of the past, yet playing out right now in the present, the Holga — for lack of a better way of putting this — allowed me to look at this rich culture with one foot deep in the past and the other foot firmly rooted in the present.

That’s why I chose the camera. I don’t allow all the light leaks. I use the camera like I use a rangefinder. And I tape it all up; I don’t like the camera making visual, creative decisions for me. I have five of them. I usually work with an assistant who is preparing them on the side, so when I finish with one camera, they can hand it over. Otherwise, you’re moving at a glacial speed.

There’s a certain texture and nuance that maybe does lend itself to some sense of historical nostalgia. To me, it gives this rich society a bit more context of how I viewed it.

Q.

How long did you and your family live there?

A.

We lived in Asia for 12 years; seven in Hong Kong and five in Indonesia, in Bali. We returned to the United States about two years ago.

Q.

So what is it about the spiritual life of Bali that interested you?

“It’s a reminder to all cultures on earth to hold on to what you have. Don’t fall victim to the Nike shirt.” — John Stanmeyer

A.

The predominant religion is Balinese Hinduism. Traditions have been practiced for well over 1,500 years and still play out today on a regular basis — everywhere. Some people around us would come and make daily offerings three times a day, to see and placate the spirits. Even before we could build our home, we had to have a land-blessing ceremony to ask the spirits that resided on the land whether it’s O.K. for us to build or not. Even in tourist areas, the whole society will stop to facilitate a ceremony.

Nyepi is the day of silence: everyone must remain silent. It’s the only place on Earth where the international airport shuts down for a 24-hour period because nothing can be out on the street. Even visitors literally cannot vacate their homes, cannot turn on a light, have an open flame. Government offices, everything stops. You go out into your yard and you can hear a pin drop. It’s astonishing.

Q.

How do you photograph silence?

A.

You photograph the run-up to Nyepi, a ceremony called Melasti. Everyone cleanses themselves in preparation for this very sacred day. It is a unique, spiritually layered event where people must go to a water source to bathe and purify and be cleansed. They must also bring their spiritual relics. The entire road system is shut down in order for the Balinese to carry these sacred offerings to beaches or rivers, to bathe and cleanse them as well as themselves. That evening, there’s a parade of gargoyle statues [ogoh-ogoh] throughout the streets, everywhere. Then, at midnight, begins the 24-hour silence.

Q.

When I think of your work, I’m not thinking Holga. This isn’t what I see in National Geographic.

A.

Exactly. This is a personal project — not that I only use the Holga on personal projects. It’s just a different tool, a different paint brush. But I definitely respect and love what it does. There’s no question that the Holga has a very specific fingerprint.

Q.

Who’s publishing this book?

A.

It’s an Indonesian publisher, Afterhours. I wanted the book available to Indonesians, not just presented in artsy bookstores in America and Europe. We’ll distribute around the world. Maybe we won’t have it in every Barnes & Noble in America. But by golly, it will be in every bookstore in Indonesia.

Q.

And why was that so important to you?

A.

Because this is a book, in many ways, for the Balinese. The Balinese culture is under severe stress from development and modernity. How much longer will the Balinese even be speaking their own language? How much longer will people be able to read the ancient Sanskrit texts?

“Maybe we won’t have it in every Barnes & Noble in America. But by golly, it will be in every bookstore in Indonesia.” — John Stanmeyer

I’m intense and passionate about it because I do feel in some regards, around the world, we’re having cultural genocide. Cultures are vanishing. We’re homogenizing ourselves across the planet. We have language loss on an epic level and we have cultural loss on an equally epic level. And that I find to be tragic, especially when you have rich, ancient cultures that haven’t changed for so long but now are on the verge of a breaking point. It’s not a Western innovation anymore. Look at development in Asia. The biggest number of tourists coming to Bali right now are Chinese and Japanese. We should have the freedom to intermingle and experience the brilliance of life, wherever it may be. But what’s happening is that a lot of traditions that have taken millenniums to build and evolve are now becoming tragically dismantled.

Boy, when you look at this book and Balinese society, you don’t want this to be lost. It’s very much a reminder to the Balinese to hold on to what they have. And it’s a reminder to all cultures on earth to hold on to what you have. Don’t fall victim to the Nike shirt, to blue jeans. Hold on to the things that are you, because sooner or later the next generation isn’t going to know it and we’ll forget it and it will be lost.