Badalu sees the world from different angles<\/p>\n
Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There is always more than one perspective - everywhere. One
\nonly has to find it. And this often needs time and patience.
\nSelf-educated photographer John Badalu is obviously patient
\nenough to take his time. He always finds a different angle
\nwherever he goes with his almost 20-year-old pocket camera.<\/p>\n
\"If I come to a place, I usually try to find a corner, where
\nnobody else goes,\" the Jakarta-based freelancer says.<\/p>\n
Menscape is the title of the first photo exhibition by far-
\ntraveled Badalu at Pojok I See Gallery on Jl. Diponegoro 65,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
His atmospheric black-and-white-pictures deal either with men
\nor landscape or put both in a mutual context - like in the photo
\nRelaxing, which features a half-naked body of a young man who
\nseems to fuse with rocks foamed over by the spray of waves.<\/p>\n
The arts manager, festival organizer, fashion designer and
\npassionate writer began taking photos soon after he received his
\nfirst pocket camera from his parents at the age of 16.<\/p>\n
\"By that time it was my big dream to become a professional
\nphotographer,\" Badalu says. \"I always wanted to be an artist, but
\nI never succeeded - so I finally became one of the organizers to
\nget closer.\"<\/p>\n
It was about the same age that he started traveling, which
\nlater on became a passion for the 30-year-old from Makassar,
\nSouth Sulawesi. This was also around the time when black-and-
\nwhite-films were first being sold in Indonesia. He was curious to
\ntry their effect. \"I wanted to be different,\" Badalu says.<\/p>\n
In 1983, the former student of economics invested Rp 60,000 in
\na simple Fuji DL15 camera, which since then has become his
\nfaithful companion during his extended travels to Europe and
\nthroughout Indonesia. Badalu rather pays the repair costs, which
\nare usually higher than the original price of the camera, than
\nbuy a new one.<\/p>\n
Badalu's sense of individuality also expresses itself in his
\nphotos. Either by taking shots at unconventional angles - for
\nexample showing the glass pyramid of the famous Louvre museum in
\nParis in the background of a street lamp - or by the selection of
\nhis focus - mainly objects from daily life, like a telephone or a
\nbicycle, suddenly placed in the center of attention by special
\nlighting.<\/p>\n
When focussing on people, the openly gay man prefers male
\nmodels. \"Most photographers are always concentrating on women,\"
\nhe says. \"I just like to show that pictures of men can be very
\nesthetic and erotic as well.\"<\/p>\n
All pictures live out of their game with light and shadow. The
\nphotographer never uses a flash to avoid any artificial effect.
\nBadalu's photos express the natural dependence on daylight of all
\nlife. None of the people in his pictures pose or are aware of
\nbeing photographed. They are mainly either sleeping or seen from
\nthe background, while the sun paints patterns on their bodies.<\/p>\n
\"I like to act like somebody who is watching people without
\nbeing noticed,\" Badalu said, explaining his perspective.<\/p>\n
So the photographer is able to freeze some rare moments of
\nstillness, which sometimes express a deep personal freedom.<\/p>\n
Badalu wants to conserve his experiences for the eyes of his
\ncompatriots, many of whom don't have the chance to see so many
\nother countries.<\/p>\n
\"I try to catch the landmarks of each place, which are unusual
\nfor Indonesians,\" he says.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Badalu feels himself in between the different
\ncultures of East and West. Living in Indonesia, on the one hand,
\nmeans always being expected to take part in any kind of social
\nlife. Living in Jakarta, on the other hand, means that there are
\nmany aspects of Western life available.<\/p>\n
\"Even if I love to have people around me, being alone
\nsometimes can also be very nice,\" Badalu says. The contributor
\nfor several magazines and newspapers has just started to write a
\nnovel about his experience of being single and living in the
\nmetropolis.<\/p>\n
Being also busy with organizing activities for foreign
\ncultural institutions like the Goethe Institute or the Italian
\nCultural Institute, the success of his photo exhibition doesn't
\nseem to be very important to Badalu's future planning.<\/p>\n
Even though he has already received five offers for bigger
\nexhibitions, Badalu has already chosen his priority: Before all
\nelse he wants to be independent in his decisions.<\/p>\n
Menscape by John Badalu at the Pojok I See Gallery on Jl.
\nDiponegoro No. 65, Menteng, Central Jakarta will last until July
\n24.<\/p>",
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