Shutterbugs show their skills in photographs of city life
JAKARTA (JP): At first glance, the photographs seem to be nothing special. In fact, most may look like run-of-the-mill snapshots of experimenting young photography enthusiasts or students.
The difference, though, is that the works have been organized in a professional layout and displayed in an exhibition.
The newcomers spirit, though, is quite palpable in the exhibit with its 145 carefully formatted pictures displayed with surprising care at the Antara Press Photography Gallery (GFJA).
With the exception of Nonot Suryo Utomo, who is 32, the other four photographers -- Imelda Stefanny, Maya Sofia, Ali Indra Gunawan and Noffal Hidayat -- are still in their mid-twenties.
Although they have been working in the world of photography for only two or three years, some of these artists' works, in terms of angles, lighting and themes, are wonderful.
Imelda's Termenung Dalam Gelap (Dreaming in the Dark), for example, portrays a blind masseuse prone on her bed facing the light coming through a window. Her roommate is seen lying on the floor next to the bed.
The black-and-white photograph is virtually pitch black except for the light of the window and the beam landing on the bed. Besides being the frame for the portrait, the utter blackness simply reflects how the blind see the world.
"I spent days in a house for the blind, which was also a massage parlor, to observe their daily lives and once asked my mother if I could try out their services before finally taking the pictures," Imelda told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
At least two of her 10 photos, all taken at the house in West Jakarta, focus on certain household items that the occupants never use.
"The things, such as the house's stoves, are treated as artificial items," Imelda said.
Nonot's works explore the inside of a Chinese cremation house, while Maya's photographs look at a Dutch building now used as a mosque. Ali reveals a messy room rented by a young man and Noffal snapped the innards of several public restrooms in the city.
"(As newcomers), they're already daring to take extreme shots with all the details," commented senior reporter Lydia Kurniawati of Foto Media photography magazine.
The exhibit's theme of Kota Kita: Interior Jakarta (Our City: the Interior of Jakarta) was the result of an assignment given the photographers by their teachers.
In charge of the three-week exhibition lasting until Oct. 27 at the GFJA building on Jl. Antara No. 59 in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, is gallery curator Yudhi Soerjoatmojo.
He asked the five "to physically and spiritually explore the area closest to their homes".
The results now make up this year's annual Kota Kita exhibition, held by the gallery since 1994. This year's theme was also meant to touch on social themes.
Besides Noffal's 100 sephia-color works, all of which are in 3R sizes, the other portraits displayed in are all black-and- white and are of different sizes.
Visitors who have not viewed previous displays might be dissatisfied with the free exhibition in that it may not be representative of many facets of the capital's interiors.
Noted photographer M. Firman Ichsan, a supervisor of the five photographers, admitted that critics could easily see the works' simplicity.
"But if there's an adage in the art world that says 'show me your picture, and I'll tell who you are' this time we can answer it with 'But I'm young and still have a long future'." (bsr)