'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.