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.