Eddy Hasby's photos epitomize East Timor

Eddy Hasby's photos epitomize East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): The images of pride, blood, tears, anger, war,
hunger, joy, hopes and dreams are so real you can almost reach
out and feel them in the black-and-white prints depicting the
final days of Indonesia's presence in East Timor ahead of the
referendum for East Timor's self-determination in August 1999.

Images of the UN and the Indonesian soldiers, and the locals,
from the pro- and anti-integration figures to the innocents, are
all captured during perhaps one of the most important times in
their lives.

Dili bishop Mgr. Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for example, is
shown wiping of perspiration while addressing journalists about
an interview he gave to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, an
interview that enraged Jakarta.

A fine shot of the rivulets of blood streaming from the body
of Bernadito Guterres, a student of Satya Wacana University in
Salatiga (Central Java), has been acclaimed as one of the best
photographs in the solo exhibition displaying the works of Kompas
senior photographer Eddy Hasby, 35.

Other photos show the activities of people during the crucial
make-or-break days for Timor Loro Sae. They include Kay Rala
Xanana Gusmao, Manuel Guterres, Interfet troops, the pro- and
anti-Jakarta militias, relatives cleaning the graves of their
loved ones or those mourning the dead, the ruins of Dili
following the brutal post referendum mayhem, people lining up for
food, a call for calm and peace from Gusmao posted on a mosque,
and a full moon over the Kristus Raja (Christ the King) monument
at Fatucama Bay, Dili.

Sponsored by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI),
the exhibition, which runs from Aug. 10 to Aug. 18 and is titled
The Long and Winding Road, East Timor, displays 61 images that
Eddy captured during his assignment from August to October 1999,
around the time of the referendum.

In tandem with the exhibition, the AJI has also issued a
hardcover book bearing the sama title but containing 135
photographs, all of which have already been exhibited in three
major Japanese cities, Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukui, between 2000 and
2001.

The book is also on sale for Rp 325,000 during the exhibition
at Bentara Budaya on Jl. Palmerah Selatan, Central Jakarta. From
Bentara, the photos and the books will go on display at the
Antara photo gallery in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, from Aug. 22
to Aug. 31.

"To assemble the collection, I regularly traveled back and
forth to Timor over the three-month period," Eddy revealed.

He said he recorded both the grim and not-so-grim images
during and after the referendum with a strong determination to be
impartial.

After all, the pictures snapped by Eddy reflect a human
tragedy.

"Actually, the people of East Timor could have passed over the
threshold of independence in peace. Unfortunately, this didn't
happen. What happened was violence, murder, scorched earth and
forced evacuations on a major scale," commented author
Sindhunata.

"How bitter and painful it was that suffering seemed to be the
price they had to pay if they wanted independence," he continued.

According to Didik Supriyanto of the AJI, the exhibition's
sponsors, Eddy deserved the designation of "professional
journalist" as he had chosen to stay in an unfriendly zone for
many of his countrymen in order to continue his job in the midst
of the upheaval.

"It was this loyalty to his profession which enabled him to
record the crucial moments of East Timor's separation," Didik
said.

From the time of the annexation on July 17, 1976 until the
referendum, many East Timorese might have agreed with Eddy that
they were heading nowhere on their long and winding road.

Now, East Timor has its own pride and freedom, and Indonesia
is now its very close neighbor.

"Deep inside (my heart), I could not accept the possibility of
East Timor breaking away from Indonesia -- and hoped we could be
one family -- not neighbors," recalled Kompas reporter Rien
Kuntari, who was with Eddy during his time in East Timor. (bsr)