1997's violence, tragedies seen through news photos

1997's violence, tragedies seen through news photos

Photo display exposes 1997 gloomy days

JAKARTA (JP): In the eyes of many news photographers, 1997 was
a year of brutality, disaster and drought.

Thirty-eight news photographers are expressing their view of
the year through a month-long photo exhibition, jointly organized
by Antara and Reuters at the Galeri Foto Jurnalistik Antara
building on Jl. Antara 59, Pasar Baru, in Central Jakarta, which
concludes today.

The 76 human-interest pictures, a mixture of black-and-white
and color prints, are dominated by scenes of emotional riots
ahead of the May general election, starving Irianese, floods,
fire and air crashes.

"The photographs force us to recall Indonesia's recent dark
history," commented visitor Makhli of Pondok Gede, East Jakarta.

Another visitor, Suris of Cipinang, East Jakarta added: "The
portraits depict the feeling of Indonesia's less fortunate
people."

According to the exhibition's organizers, the goal of the
exhibition is not only to show the graphic pictures to the
public.

"In these images lie a hope that no more such cruel events
will happen in our beloved country after 1997," the gallery's
curator Oscar Matuloh told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

The pictures, professionally and beautifully displayed on the
gallery's first floor, highlight important tragedies captured by
the lens during 1997.

Viewers are led by the room's interior designs to start
viewing a series of superb images from the general election
campaign. Photographs portray colorful faces of campaigners and
some scenes of angry security officers facing off with party
faithful.

Subsequent pictures take the viewer to lands reeling from the
year's drought and the crashes of IPTN's military CN 235 plane in
West Java and the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia in
North Sumatra.

In the latter accident, all 234 people onboard were killed.

Melancholy

The exhibition, entitled Kilas Balik '97 (Portraits of '97),
is not all about last year. On the second floor the organizers
also display a series of melancholy pictures recorded by
Indonesian new photographers in previous years.

Among them are images from the Nov. 2, 1996 Mt. Merapi
eruption in Central Java. One photo displays a family's half-
eaten breakfast left behind when they evacuated the area. Six
plates of rice and two glasses partially filled with coffee are
shown covered with ash from the volcano eruption.

On the other side of the second floor, a picture records the
aftermath of a storm at Desa Panjer in Banyuwangi, East Java, in
June 1994 which killed 121 people.

"We carefully selected the pictures on the second floor to
help visitors recall natural disasters that occurred before 1997
as well," said Oscar, a senior news photographer who recently
held a solo exhibition of his works on Cambodia.

Public figures selected for display include President
Soeharto, captured along with his top military brass, opposition
leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairman of Nadhlatul Ulama
Abdurrahman Wahid, East Timor's separatist movement Fretilin
leader Xanana Gusmao and Dili Bishop Belo.

"We just tried to show interesting pictures. That's all,"
Jeremy Clift of Reuters told the Post Monday.

Most of the photos were printed earlier in local newspapers
and weeklies.

The pictures were collected from 38 press photographers of 15
media institutions, namely Antara, Reuters, AFP, Merdeka, Paron,
Gatra, Sinar Pagi, Tiras, D&R, Surya, Tajuk, Ummat, Kompas,
Pikiran Rakyat and Bisnis Indonesia.

The exhibition was funded with 3,500 from Reuters and
commemorated the 60th anniversary of Antara, he said.

Oscar said the exhibition would be held annually, but the
theme for 1998 had yet to be decided.

The theme for Kilas Balik '97 was Karena Mereka Empuya Bumi
(Because They Own The Land).

Most visitors were delighted after viewing the exhibition,
which many viewed as a masterpiece collection of the Indonesian
news photographer corps.

"It must have taken a lot of nerve to have shot that
photograph under such risky conditions," wrote a visitor in the
comment book, referring to a photograph from the July 27, 1996
incident when a "mysterious" group attacked the Indonesian
Democratic Party's headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro in Central
Jakarta.

The exhibition, however, has attracted only a few people,
particularly during its last days due to a lack of promotion.
(bsr)