Street Photography Notes from JAKARTA - Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA)

Erik Prasetya signs his book at IPA Street Photography Presentation JAKARTA.

On 22nd to 25th November 2012, we held our first ever IPA Street Photography Presentation in Jakarta, Indonesia. The presentation included a public talk at Kineforum and a 3 Day workshop at Gallery Cafe, Taman Ismail Marzuki. The experience ranks high as one of our highlights for the year 2012. Here’s some brief notes from the event.

Finally meeting Jakarta’s very own influential photographer Erik Prasetya was certainly an early highlight. He was more dapper a gentleman than one we’d imagine as author of a book titled ‘Banal Aesthetics’. Erik was a keynote speaker at our public talk and his presentation on the motivations and concepts behind his ‘JAKARTA Estetika Banal’ photographic approach had the full house of audience engaged. At the end of his presentation, Erik flashed briefly 4 photographs of his latest street photographs of Jakarta. They were in colour and appeared a more refined, contemporary adaptation of his approach. We must say we were intrigued and curious to see more. Mid-2013 completion, Erik said.

Erik Prasetya at the IPA Street Photography Presentation JAKARTA

[vimeo clip_id=”54422991″ height=”” width=”600″]

Andri Tambunan at IPA Street Photography Presentation Jakarta

Rony Zakaria at IPA Street Photography Presentation JAKARTA.

Erik Prasetya & Kevin WY Lee at IPA Street Photography Presentation Jakarta

Full House at Kineforum for the IPA Street Photography Presentation, Jakarta.

Rony Zakaria presented photographs from his upcoming book ‘Encounters’, an eclectic visual diary of city life and personal reflections, emotions. The book is a refreshing departure from Rony’s usual documentary approach. ‘Encounters’ is almost ready for press – the mockup we saw looks great. It was also a pleasure to have Rony co-mentor the 15 participants in our 3 day workshop in Jakarta.

Encounters Photo Book Dummy by Rony Zakaria

The third speaker was Kevin WY Lee, who also lead the Street Photography workshop. He introduced to the audience the street photography of photographers featured on IPA including Raghu Rai (India), Junku Nishimura (Japan), Tay Kay Chin (Singapore), and Che’ Ahmad Azhar (Malaysia) amongst others.

Kevin WY Lee at IPA Street Photography Presentation JAKARTA

Sample Photographs from the Workshop

The street photography workshop was a melting pot indeed, with participants from various parts of Indonesia attending alongside those who flew in from Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore. Over the 3 days, participants had their work reviewed, and exploring concepts from practical photography on the streets of Jakarta to editing and curation. Some work from the participants that we found particularly interesting were the photographs of Indonesian photojournalist Ignatius Liliek. Ignatius has only recently begun exploring street photography after years shooting news. His street images revealed not only a very refined photographic eye, but an intriguing, child-like curiosity. Isabelle Delforge’s daily photographs of her public commuting to work on trains and buses in Jakarta was a wonderful surprise. With encouragement, Isabelle explored mixing environmental portraits and textures during the workshop with her candid snaps.

Presentations during the Street photography Workshop Jakarta.

Out in the field, street photography in Jakarta.

Editing session at the IPA Street Photography Workshop Jakarta.

Participants at the IPA Street Photography Workshop Jakarta.

Other highlights include a brief visit to Galeri Foto Jurnalistik Antarawhere we caught up with photographer Fanny Octavianus, who is also working on a book on Jakarta due for completion next year. We left Jakarta with a stash of photo books: Soulscape Road by Oscar Motuloh, Jakarta Estetika Banal by Erik Prasetya, Encounters (Mockup) by Rony Zakaria, and Photojournalism by Organisation Of APac News Agencies.

Fanny Octavianus at Galeri Foto Jurnalistik Antara

Jakarta Photo books: Soulscape Road by Oscar Motuloh, Jakarta Estetika Banal by Erik Prasetya, Encounters (Mockup) by Rony Zakaria, and Photojournalism by Organisation Of APac News Agencies.

Terima Kasih Jakarta, till we meet again… soon.