Images on Java by French photographers go on display

By K. Basri

JAKARTA (JP): French photographer Herve Dangla of Belantara Jakarta (Jungle of Jakarta) and Jakarta 95 fame is in town again for his third exhibition.

The exhibition is entitled Indonesia, Cultural Paradox and will be officially opened this evening. Dangla has broadened the scope of this exhibition from his previous focus on the capital to include pictures of people, landscape and architecture from all around Java.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post during final preparations for the opening ceremony at the French Cultural Center on Jl. Salemba in Central Jakarta yesterday, Dangla said the works on display were taken between 1994 and 1997 by himself and compatriot Francois Serveau.

Exhibits include 110 black-and-white images and 160 slides depicting the grand image of the Javanese people and the atmosphere of the country through the eyes of the two photographers.

The images will be on display to the public at the French Cultural Center between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12 and at the Jakarta Arts Institute on Jl. Cikini Raya between Aug. 23 and Aug. 27.

At first glance, the works on display appear to be nothing more than straightforward, run-of-the-mill photos.

The subjects of the photos are the buildings and landscape in and around Jakarta, Wonosari, Jember, Cilacap, Lawang, Yogyakarta, Cirebon, Klaten, Madura and Tulung Agung.

One photo portrays an elderly farmer, Haji Mustafa, standing like an unattractive statue in front of his farmhouse near Pekalongan in Central Java, undistracted by an old woman and a young boy in the background.

This image might appear dull to the untrained eye that fails to take in the style and modifications made to the 1774 house that serves as a backdrop in the photo.

Another photo which typifies the work of these two photographers is an intriguing shot of a window in the Mayor of Cirebon's office building. The building was put up by the Dutch colonial administration.

Dangla confessed to having very classical taste.

He said the style of work which he and Serveau like to create is very different from the work of most other modern professional photographers.

"You only see many things in these photos after you take a closer look," he said.

"I always observe the area for weeks or months, interview many people and take some notes before coming back to the site to take pictures," the 39-year-old Dangla said.

This dedication to capturing the atmosphere of the subjects of their study meant that Dangla and Serveau had to spend many months between 1994 and 1997 simply observing sites where they intended to take photographs.

The result of this patience, he said, is that "each picture has its own story to tell."

Dangla said the main purpose of the exhibition was to document Indonesian architecture and the way it has been influenced by many layers of culture.

Like the Cirebon mayoralty office, the Tawang railway station in Surabaya has been renovated many times and each time significant changes have been made to the original colonial structure.

"It seems to me that people here do not like the past but also love to live in the past," Dangla said.

Dangla, Serveau and local team members Dolorosa Sinaga, Yori Antar, Irvam A. Noe'man and Yuswadi Saliya plan to continue their project to document Indonesian architecture in other parts of the country over the next three years.

They hope to turn their attention, and lenses, towards Sulawesi, Bali, East Timor, Sumatra, Lombok, Irian Jaya and Kalimantan.

A father of four, Dangla started his career as a photographer while studying architecture in France. He once enrolled to study photography at the Ecole Internationale de Photographie in Toulouse, but left the institute after only three months.

"The best photography teacher is your own eyes," said Dangla, who prefers to use Sinar and Hasselblad large-format cameras in the course of his work.

Some of the pictures on display this year have already been put on show to the public in 1995 and 1996 as part of the Belantara Jakarta exhibition.

All of the prints in the exhibition are on sale for between Rp 1 million and Rp 10 million each, depending upon the image and size.

"Developing photographs in Toulouse has increased in price to about Rp 3 million for each large print," Dangla said, explaining how the works have been priced.