Photographer sniffs out story of the 'Big Durian'

Photographer sniffs out story of the 'Big Durian'

Chris Holm, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

William Durman is passionate about Jakarta. While many
expatriates work in comfortable air-conditioned offices high
above the dust and the jams, Durman sweats it out in the seamier
parts of town, dodging potholes, traffic and the occasional
train, to take pictures of the city he loves.

Walk into a crowded street market, down a railway line or
through a crooked neighborhood beside a river, and you might find
Durman, standing quietly behind his Hasselblad camera or chatting
politely to the locals as he decides on his next photograph.

Durman's work is an expedition of discovery, combining his
love of exploring, photography and a desire to document the city
he has lived in for 12 years.

"I'm constantly intrigued about what's around the next
corner," Durman said, "whether it's working people or those just
trying to get on with their daily lives".

"I often go to a certain area which I have something in mind
to photograph, but then I see something else and I'm blown out of
the water. Often I just end up following my nose."

All this following his nose has led to his fifth show, a 43-
piece black and white photo exhibition, The Big Durian -- a
celebration of community in Jakarta. It's part-documentary, part-
art photography; Durman says his images aim to capture a cross-
section of the city and the warmth of the people who live here.

"I generally find Jakartans are very hospitable and friendly,
whatever their circumstances. When you put down the obvious
banners of background and race, people here integrate very well."

Like the city he documents, Durman's pictures don't sit
quietly in the background, they reach out and grab you. Studies
of light and contrast, his images are diverse. Scenes from inner-
city kampongs, markets, harbor areas and campaign rallies hang
alongside pastoral images of farmers and fisherman. All are taken
within a two-hour radius of Jakarta's center.

Talk to him, and you begin to realize that Durman's
photographs are as much about him as they are about Jakarta. They
also explain why he does not see the subjects of his photographs
as necessarily "exotic", why he's as much at home here as
anywhere else.

Born in Bahrain into an army family -- an English father and
French mother -- Durman is no stranger to traveling. Spending his
childhood years in Cyprus and Germany, he later returned to
England and studied photography at Salisbury College -- "very
much a traditional marketplace town" -- before traveling
extensively throughout Southeast Asia "following my interest in
anthropology".

At Salisbury he became interested in the works of 1930s
English photographer Bill Brant, "for how he used light in his
photographs", and ideas about documentary realism.

"From Salisbury, I used to love taking the train down to
London and photographing the tight-knit communities in some of
the grittier areas there. I learned many of my techniques down
Soho's narrow streets and alleys and the London underground
(subway)," he said.

"In many ways, I suppose my work in Jakarta is a continuation
of that. I'm still interested in how dynamic cities like London
and Jakarta manage to accommodate such a huge mass of people."

The Big Durian prints contain timeless panoramic "picture-
postcard" scenes and accomplished portraits. Many of the images
are humorous, while others are other more thoughtful. And it's
the people in the photographs that often bring light to what
could otherwise be depressing situations. For many contain
rubbish and poverty.

"I didn't want to create a series of pictures that were all
nice and sweet," Durman said. "I want people to feel what I felt
when I took these photos, wanting them to think, 'what's going to
be in the next picture?', to offer them something that was
realistic and thought-provoking."

"If I move people with these pictures, I know I've done
something right."

And the response to Durman's work has been good. So good, in
fact, that he has largely given up his old job here as a
commercial photographer and began to concentrate solely on his
art.

"I have high personal standards that my work has to live up to
and I've found the response to my work is really positive,
especially among the expatriate community," he said.

"Like me, they've lived in Jakarta and they've bought
traditional batik and furniture and carvings but they want
something that accurately represents the modern city they live
in."

Of course, other Jakarta residents are also interested in his
work, with one prominent national figure snapping up almost all
of his prints at a recent exhibition. Durman won't name the man,
"all art collectors deserve privacy," is all he says.

While Durman is pleased at all the interest, one senses it is
only a means to an end for him. After all, he says, there's still
so much more of the city left to explore.

"I don't take anything for granted. I would never say I know
Jakarta. There is so much to see here if you keep an open mind,
and are willing to look around.

"It's a fascinating city and a fascinating life."

I-BOX:

William Durman's prints are currently on exhibition at Zigolini
Restaurant and Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Central Jakarta
until July 10. To contact the artist about his work, call 0182
954 8185.