`Tempo' photojournalists exhibit work at Antara gallery<\/p>\n
By Amir Sidharta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Works by four Tempo photographers are currently
\non exhibit at the Antara Photojournalistic Gallery in Pasar Baru,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The photographs were originally prepared for a traveling
\nexhibit commemorating the 20th anniversary of Tempo in 1991, but,
\ndue to organizational problems, were never shown. Ironically, the
\nJune press bans that led to the closure of Tempo instigated
\ngallery curator Yudhi Soeryoatmodjo to recover them and set up a
\nmodest exhibition of the color photographs.<\/p>\n
The photographers each focus on a particular region in
\nIndonesia. Hidayat S. Gautama presents a photo essay of Jakarta
\nKota's train station, Rully Kesuma questions the sprawl of a
\nChinese \"gravetown\" in Cikadut, Robin Ong records the celebration
\nof Cap Go Meh and the daily life of Chinese descendants around
\nPontianak, while Donny Metri portrays life in the remote Baliem
\nValley of Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Hidayat S. Gautama's photographs of the Jakarta Kota station
\nwere taken in response to rumors that the impressive Deco-esque
\nstation was going to be demolished like Gambir Station.<\/p>\n
\"Gambir meant a lot to me and my family. It symbolized arrival
\nin Jakarta, not only to myself, but also to my elders,\" Hidayat,
\nwho is better known as Dayat, remarked. Therefore, he wanted to
\nphotograph the Kota station as a way \"to preserve the memories
\nthat once existed there\" before they were \"lost and no longer
\nretrievable.\"<\/p>\n
Photographically investigating the Kota station, Dayat
\ndiscovered the essence of the train station beyond its
\nfascinating architectural features. He tried to portray the
\nnotion of transition and movement. This he places in relation to
\nthe entity of the station, that is, its architecture. One
\nphotograph shows two men sitting and waiting, seen through an
\nintricate turn of the century grill. They are in a temporary,
\nstationary state. A figure with a bag, sitting on the base of a
\nsteel column, is contrasted with a glimpse of the grand hall of
\nthe station through which many people move. Amongst the crowd, a
\nwoman, also carrying a bag, balances the composition. Both the
\nbags, and the contrast between the sitting figures and the
\nswiftness of the woman enhance the notion of movement.<\/p>\n
To fully understand the train station, Dayat went out of his
\nway to investigate the least public of spaces. His third
\nphotograph shows trains on the station's tracks, viewed through a
\nwindow. The scene is not from any generic space. The red and
\ngreen flags rolled and placed by the window specify that the view
\nis from the control tower. The juxtaposition of the control
\ntower, the \"brains\" of the station, and the trains on the tracks,
\nthe \"guts\" of the station, expresses another significant aspect
\nof the railway station.<\/p>\n
Celestial<\/p>\n
Starting with a fragmented image of a coffin, in front of
\nwhich is placed offerings, Rully Kesuma places the existence of a
\nChinese cemetery in Cikadut, near Bandung, at the focal point of
\nhis work.<\/p>\n
The second image is a shot of the ornate architectural details
\nof a structure in the cemetery which diverts our attention from
\nthe grim aspect of decay associated with graveyards. Instead, it
\nleads the viewer to a notion of celestial deliverance. Then, an
\nimage of an abandoned gravestone is also captured. It stands
\ncrooked amidst tall coarse grass while a water buffalo lurks
\nbehind. Through this rather humorous photograph, we are reminded
\nagain of decay.<\/p>\n
The final two images of Rully's work places the cemetery in a
\nbroader context. One shot shows a guard standing nonchalantly in
\nfront of the gate leading to two ornately embellished circular
\nstructures joined together, resembling a double royal umbrella,
\nthe details of which appear in a previous photograph. In the
\nother photograph, clothes are placed on the posts of the
\ncemetery's fence. Beyond the fence is an empty lot bordering the
\nmain area of the cemetery. The images \"presents a reality between
\nthe dead and the ones that are still alive,\" states the
\ninterpretive label.<\/p>\n
Cap Go Meh<\/p>\n
During an assignment to cover the fight between boxers Elyas
\nPical and Raul Diaz in Pontianak, in 1988 sport photographer
\nRobin Ong decided to cover the Cap Go Meh celebrations at the
\nsame time. Despite the predominantly Chinese population of the
\ntown, permits for public Chinese holiday festivities were not
\nissued. Therefore, the celebrations were limited to the Chinese
\ntemples and small villages outside of town.<\/p>\n
In a temple in Pontianak, Robin captured a fortune teller in
\naction. Playing a central role in deciphering future auspices, he
\nis surrounded by lingering onlookers. Another photograph taken in
\nthe vicinity of the temple portrays the suffering of a dancer
\ntorturing himself as a gesture of repentance.<\/p>\n
The image symbolizes the hardship endured by the Chinese
\naround Pontianak. In the villages, boys celebrate by dancing the
\nbarongsai dragon, which they have assembled using scrap material.
\nThere, the ethnic Chinese live in shanties. Many of the people's
\nimmigration status is unclear and they tend to shy away from
\nphotographers. Hence, Robin had to use a 300mm lens coupled with
\na 2x converter, to capture images of the daily life of the
\nChinese, offering an alternative to the stereotyped perception of
\nIndonesian Chinese.<\/p>\n
Human interaction<\/p>\n
Donny Metri's images of the Dani of Irian Jaya's Baliem Valley
\ncaptures glimpses of human interaction around Wamena. Three of
\nhis five photographs were taken during a blessing of a church in
\nHitigima. Two Dani men intimately share the light of a cigarette.
\nTheir facial expressions show a sincere appreciation of the
\ndeadly smoke. Amidst the smoke of their potlatch, Dani men
\ncooperate in a stone roasting \"bakar batu\" ceremony. Meanwhile,
\nwaiting for the food to be ready, a child sleeps in his mother's
\nembrace.<\/p>\n
Donny's two other photographs depict men in their
\nsurroundings, one urban, the other rural. A Dani man, clothed
\nmerely in a long holim penis sheath, stands in front of an
\namenities store at Wamena's Nayak central market eating boiled
\ncorn on the cob. Through this juxtaposition, a banal occurrence
\nat that particular marketplace, the photographer shows a bizarre
\ncollision of modern urban merchandise in remote rural settings.
\nThe final image portrays a lone man, carrying a log on his
\nshoulder, on his way home to one of the villages in the valley.
\nHis figure seems to be diminishing, perhaps even dissolving, into
\nthe mountainous landscape.<\/p>\n
The works presented in the show, most of which are
\nuncommissioned photo essays composed as \"by-products\" of assigned
\nwork, represent the relentless investigative spirit of the four
\nTempo photojournalists. The exhibition will last through Sept.
\n20.<\/p>",
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