Getting acquainted with Surabaya through photography
Getting acquainted with Surabaya through photography
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya
Australia's Duncan Graham, a veteran journalist and a frequent
contributor to The Jakarta Post, held a solo photo exhibition
called "Voyeur ou Reporter?" (Seer or Observer?) at Centre
Culturel et de Cooperation Linguistique (CCCL) in Surabaya on
Dec. 1.
"These photos are the most fantastic and most natural that I
have taken with my camera. They depict the character of the
people of Surabaya, who are known to be open and hospitable to
anybody," Graham said.
In the exhibition, Graham, who has also written The People
Next Door, a book published by University of Western Australia
Press, exhibited 50 framed photos, all of which describe the life
of the people of East Java, with the majority of the works set in
Surabaya.
Graham's photos generally describe 12 facial expressions,
encompassing wisdom, trust, doubt, pain, purpose, authority,
priorities, wonder, privilege, faith, skill and joy.
For photography aficionados in Surabaya, Graham's photos are
nothing new. Many of the same themes and features can be found in
work by Indonesian photographers.
Take Oscar Motulloh, a senior photographer from Antara news
agency, and Trisnadi of Associated Press, for example. In their
photo exhibitions, they always depict poverty, social problems
and conflicts.
This is natural as the two photographers are part of this
social system and culture. Graham, however, is Australian, so for
him the portrait of a community and its activities is
extraordinarily interesting and impressive.
He can explain the purpose of his photos to both visitors and
journalists, and also point out differences between Indonesian
and Australian culture.
Photography lovers are all agreed that Graham's works are
really interesting. Perhaps they can help answer questions about
the essence of humanity and culture.
Life
A resident of Surabaya for three years, Graham never feels
tired of explaining his works to other people, even if he has
already looked at his photos hundreds of times. He selected all
of the photos for the exhibition himself.
"It is really very difficult to get a natural pose like what
you see in my photos in the West or even in Australia. People in
the West enjoy the right of privacy that regulates their privacy
during a photo session," he said.
As laws regulating an individual's privacy are in force in the
West, he said, a photographer must seek someone's permission
before taking his or her picture.
In Indonesia, he said, someone's private life is for public
consumption, ranging from his or her age to his or her religion
and other things related to private affairs.
To illustrate, he mentioned a local newspaper in Surabaya that
often prints uncensored pictures of bloody bodies and corpses. In
the West, he added, papers do not print such pictures.
Unlike in the West, pornography is illegal in Indonesia.
That is why in Indonesia a photographer cannot work as freely
as in the West. In Indonesia, a photographer is not someone the
public fears. In fact, they allow photographers to take their
pictures.
"Indonesians place great trust in a photographer. I can freely
go in and out of villages and people's homes without any pressure
at all," said Graham, who often pedals around Surabaya on his
bike looking for subjects.
Claiming that he never tires of learning about the cultural
secrets of Indonesian society, Graham said Indonesia was rich not
only in terms of its natural wonders but also in human resources.
Indeed, his photos reflect these two aspects of the country.