'Ipphos' to sell Indonesia's historical photo negatives
'Ipphos' to sell Indonesia's historical photo negatives
By K. Basrie
JAKARTA (JP): About one million photographic negatives depicting events from Indonesia's monumental history from Independence Day in 1945 until 1966 are now on sale at Ipphos, the first and formerly the largest press photo agency in the country and main source of historical information for the government.
Among Ipphos' (the Indonesian Press Photo Service) photo collection is the renowned photograph of the Proclamation of Independence announced by former president Sukarno on Aug. 17, 1945 which is acknowledged as the only one of its kind.
Other images include the late president Sukarno's state and personal activities, Indonesian independence fighters' bloody clashes against Allied/British troops, diplomatic missions, battles against guerrilla troops in several areas, a young Soeharto (from lieutenant colonel to major general) -- who is now President -- and the famed Army's supreme commander, General Sudirman.
"The total price for the collection is Rp 1.5 billion (US$625,000)," Ipphos' directress Y.M. Mubagio Mendur told The Jakarta Post in an interview.
Does the purchaser have to meet any prerequisites?
"Yes," said Mendur. "The buyer must be an Indonesian citizen possessing great nationalism."
What is the right of the appropriate buyer?
"He or she could do anything with the negatives," said the 62- year-old woman, whose father -- Alexius Impurung Mendur -- was a co-founder of Ipphos.
What about the photo credits?
"The buyer, of course, could use the negatives for whatever purposes without having to list "Ipphos" on the photographs. It's no big problem for us because normally, Ipphos' pictures can be easily identified," said Mendur, better-known as Meity.
But why would Ipphos need to sell this priceless collection of negatives, representing one of the most momentous periods of this nation's history?
"We're tired of waiting for the financial help promised by the government and other parties for the restoration and retouching of the negatives, some of which have been badly damaged due to the minimum amount of preservation techniques employed and facilities we have," Meity said.
In 1990, a noted banker promised to financially support the restoration and retouching of the negatives, as did representatives from Antara's photo gallery last year.
"All the promises sounded great, but all of them were no more than bla, bla, bla," she said.
High cost
Only a few countries in the world use the proper techniques to do restoration and retouching of old negatives -- at high costs. In Japan, for example, the retouching work for a single negative costs around one million yen ($8,035).
What could stop you from selling these historical negatives?
"Only a personal request from President Soeharto or at least Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono. We'll comply with whatever they want to do with all these negatives. But we don't want to deal with any other officials who only act as brokers for their own interests," said Meity.
According to Meity, an information ministry officer once made her an offer. "He offered me an unreasonable price -- Rp 50 million -- which really upset me," she said.
Meity has set a fixed price. "I really mean it," she said, while realizing that the sale of the negatives would also symbolize the death of the 50-year-old press photo agency. "We're tired enough," she repeated.
Meity planned to share the money with the relatives of all Ipphos' co-founders. "Or we might open a new business, but not dealing with photography," she said.
Meity's decision to sell the negatives might spark worry among people who consider them as part of the nation's heritage.
For quite a long time, a number of people have expressed their concern about the condition of the negatives, which are improperly stored in wooden and steel file cabinets.
Photographer and observer Paul I. Zacharia said in his article about Ipphos published in Gatra weekly magazine last year: "We're only dazzled by the shining skyscrapers as symbols of our successful development program. But I hope there will come a time when all of us awaken to appreciate all these works achieved by the heroes of the lense."
Ipphos recorded a milestone in Indonesian photography during the first few years of independence, which was dominated by foreign press corps. Some of their images also represented the high sense of art of Ipphos press photographers, despite the minimum amount of equipment and experience they had.
When someday, someone purchases the collection, we all hope he or she treats the negatives not only as a part of Indonesia's national heritage, but also as a priceless legacy.