Glimpse of Lao

One thing which is a fact is that Lao is a hidden gem, it remains as subtle as it can be although being surrounded by countries which tourism already flourishes like Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Vientiane the capital of Lao PDR, will take you back where holiday is defined by taking the time to finish the book on the local coffee shop or working on the project you would like to finish. The people are friendly, the Lao food although hard to find are surprisingly good and the best thing you can cover the whole city for only 3 hours or so plenty of time to enjoy the laid back atmosphere.

Still the aura of business is everywhere, much like any country in South East Asia. Expect pollution and traffic jams to be on the main street, but it's nowhere comparable as  Jakarta.

While Vientiane is the developing capital in which modernism slowly creeping in, Luang Prabang in the other hand is a small charming rustic city. So small that you can cover it in one hour.

Daily life would include to see the monks walking up and down the streets, getting alms from the citizen or tourists, cycle around the city, sipping coffee in a bakery and finally enjoying the colours exploded calmly in the night market.

It's a city where the time is lost, it's where you ask for peace and calmness, rare attributes for one of the tourist destination in South East Asia.

More pictures can be seen here and here

Buat Apa Lagi Kita Motret?

Jadi gini ceritanya, pertanyaan ini muncul ketika saya membaca artikel tentang konflik antara Jay Maisel dan Andy Baio  lalu berlanjut kepada analisa yg ditulis oleh Jeremy Nicholl, tapi inti dari tulisan ini adalah bukan ngebahas Jay, Andy atau Jeremy tetapi lebih kepada satu statment yang ada di blog si Jeremy yaitu tentang 1 grup di Flickr, tepatnya postingan di grup itu. Saya yakin semua fotografer online pasti tau Flickr, mereka pernah nyoba make atau jadi anggota pro sekarang dari sekian banyak fitur yang ada, ada 1 fitur yg bernama group, fungsinya yah, bikin group sesuai dengan selera kita. Salah satu grup itu bernama DeleteMe, cara kerja di group ini adalah user meng-upload 1 foto dan user-user yang lain bisa voting apakah foto tersebut bisa di save atau di delete. Tersebutlah 1 user bernama André Rabelo yang mengupload 1 foto dengan resolusi kecil, buram, shaky dan tidak tajam sama sekali. Hasilnya bisa dipastikan semua orang pasti bilang delete me, tapi ternyata si uploader bukanlah fotografer aslinya dan foto yg buram, shaky dan tidak tajam itu adalah karya milik Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Ok kembali ke judul, dari pembicaraan di Group itu, mulailah saya menelusuri komentar komentar yang ada, sebagian yang menyebut itu harusnya dihapus mulai sadar mereka salah, beberapa orang mengucapkan "inilah yang terjadi kalau sebagian besar tidak mempelajari sejarah fotografi" tapi yang paling menohok dan membuat saya berpikir adalah komentar dari The Chorizo Warrior yang saya ambil kutipannya:

WHO WILL REMEMBER A PERFECT SHOT SET UP IN A STUDIO OF A F*%^ING TOMATO IN 50 YEARS TIME?!!??

Dan komentar itu adalah inti dari blog posting ini semua.

Beberapa kita membawa kamera ketika travelling, beberapa membawa di jalanan, beberapa bawa untuk gaya biar ada yg digantungin di leher dan beberapa bawa karena mereka penghasilannya untuk memotret. Khusus yang terakhir mungkin postingan yang ini tidak akan berlaku.

Ketika kita travelling apa yg akan kita foto? Sunrise, Sunset, gunung yang berlapis, slow shutter sungai/pantai/awan, orang-orang yg kita temui atau foto narsis mungkin?

Ketika kita di jalan mendokumentasikan hidup, kita membahas atau terinspirasi dari Cartier-Bresson, Gilden, Parr, Stuart atau Moriyama. Atau sebagian besar mungkin masih terjebak bahwa kalau di jalanan ya moto yang paling gampanglah pengemis atau anak-anak jalanan dan diberi caption yang sedikit mengiba.

Ketika kamera menjadi aksesoris, yah kalo ga narsis, ya foto temen-temen atau pacar yang unyu-unyu atau yah keluarga.

Singkatnya tiap kali kita memotret, tiap kali kita memencet shutter semua yang terekam yang di memory card kita pasti gambar gambar yang sudah sering muncul. Cuma di tempat atau dengan subject yang berbeda dengan fotografer yang berbeda pula. Dari sini bisa disimpulkan sebagian besar dari pemilik kamera itu mandeg proses kreatifnya, karena berulang melulu konsep fotonya.

Jadi kalau sudah berulang kali kita potret, berulang kali kita liat dan berulang kali kita lakukan. Buat apa lagi kita motret kalau cuma menuh-menuhin harddisk?

I am glad, I didn't win the IPA contest

Invisible Ph t grapher Asia (don't ask where the "o" are, they did write it that way) conducted a Street Photography contest a month back. To make story shorts, I sent three of my street shots hoping that I would win the "Classic Street Kit" which consist of:

• A great shooter/user condition black repainted LEICA M2 Rangefinder Camera. This is one of our very own cameras we use for street photography.
• A brand new Nokton 35mm F/1.4 Lens kindly sponsored by Chiif Cameras, Official Voigtlander Dealer.
• An original IPA SUNNY 16 Dog Tag.
• 3 rolls of Kodak TRI-X film in a 35mm Ammo Sleeve that we designed ourselves and use.

(or probably that's too much, being a finalist is more than enough for me.)

Then I waited in anticipation as they announced the 20 finalist, literally one by one and as the title implied I did not win. Strangely as the fact come to me, all the tension I had was slowly diminishing. When I got my head through and see the photographs by the finalist, I can say that I am glad I didn't won and I have learn these few things:

1. Indonesia harbours a lot of Street Photographers, out of 20 there's 6 Indonesians become a finalist. I believe that if only we discovered camera first probably people will cite an Indonesian as a father of street photograph rather than Cartier-Bresson.
2. In relation to #1 we didn't need to go to Paris or Europe to have good street shots. The subjects, terrains, cultures here in Asia are different but that didn't stop great pictures being made right? I'd say take our camera everyday and take a shot at anything that interest us.
3. At first I am still confused about the definition of Street Photography. What is it, try to capture the decisive moment? the symmetry? the action? the finalist entries allow me to see a pattern, a pattern so obvious but I couldn't put it into words yet (confused? yes it is also making me more confused). However, to enlighten the people at IPA  said that  "there needs to be more happening within the frame for it to hold its ground as a good street photograph", while that this is what the people there say, we mustn't forget  that photography is a very subjective matter, what they perceive as good, might not be your cup of tea. I'd say rather that contradicting their choices we need to learn from the best (entering competition is one), our mistakes and create our own vision of street photography.

So why did I am glad that I didn't win? simply because the finalits' works have tell me something I didn't know before or something that I oversee. That something (in which I couldn't explain as well) might not be coming to me when I become one of the finalists.

So I believe that's about it, might write a little bit more when I can think of something or figuring out that "something". In the mean time congrats for all the finalists and head over to this page to see the slideshow of their works.

Jogjakarta 1.0

Pictures of my last travel to Jogjakarta, in December 2009

Prime: The Way Forward Is to Take Two Steps Back

Yesterday some of the people that I follow on twitter is buzzing about a certain photo-journalistic class, the class is already exceptional because it's conducted in Rwanda, by the VII Photo Agency and conducted by none other that Gary Knight and Marcus Bleasdale, however people aren't buzzing because they are excited about the opportunity. They are excited because one particular sentence which appear on the announcement, which I paste here

This workshop will be conducted using digital cameras only. All students are expected to supply their own cameras and lenses. Marcus and Gary really encourage you to come with one body and a 35mm lens or equivalent and a spare camera and lens. Zoom lenses are not really encouraged.

Can you guess which one make the ruckus?

Hint: it's not the digital part.

Anyway I'll be travelling to Jogjakarta and because of that line in the advertisement, I have decided to carry out an experimentation with my camera and the photographs resulted. It's a call of revolution perhaps or a revival of a long lost idea.

Pick Your Stance

And live through it.

Candid

Anyway, there's this branch of photography called "street photography" essentially the street become your studio, you can capture everything you see in front of you if you're fast enough. You can capture candid expression, humorous irony or sometimes divine geometry precision in which all or some will involve people and their life. Judging from what I write above,  this street photography are bound to be voyeuristic in nature, however unlike pornography it is conducted for the sake of art.

Putting our dirty mind aside, there are a lot of reason why people didn't want to get photographed in this time and age, where releasing a portrait to the internet is the same as putting a potential meme, however we didn't want that, we just want to get that portrait of a stranger up in the internet as a source of discussion looking at the relationship between photographs and the classical arts.

Yes, what we do will irate a lot of people and sometimes it's also bugging me to become such douche to put up a camera and then get close to the subject and capture their unawareness,  but then again aren't all things and living creature in the public space are deemed to be public's?

Eskapisme: Sebuah Kultur Penduduk Jakarta

Saya ga habis pikir, penduduk sepadat itu ada di Jakarta. Mungkin lama-lama nanti orang Jakarta itu tidur berdiri semua.

Itu kata teman saya, urang Bandung seorang entrepreneur yang punya hotel di Cihampelas, dekat dengan para pool travel. Tentu saja usahanya sukses berat, itulah yang saya simpulkan karena saya waktu itu ngobrolnya di hotel dia yang cabang ke 2.

Tapi saya tidak mau menulis tentang teman saya itu, yang saya mau bicarakan adalah kenyataan di Jakarta dan budaya eskapisme para penduduknya.

Kabur Dari Jakarta

Kenapa kabur?

Bukankah Jakarta adalah tempat dimana saya bisa mendapatkan apa saja dengan mudah? makanan murah, tempat tinggal dengan beragam fasilitas, mall-mall yang menjulang tinggi, rumah sakit yang beragam beragam fasilitas transportasi.

Bukankah Jakarta adalah tempat dimana teman-teman berada? dimana orang-orang berada dekat dengan kita sehingga ruang tak lagi menjadi suatu keberatan ? dan apabila kebetulan mendesak, maka telekomunikasi pun masih menjadi suatu kemudahan disini.

Maka sesungguhnya yang saya sebutkan memang fakta, fakta tentang ruang tetapi tidak tentang waktu.

Karena waktu itu berjalan dengan cepat sekali di Jakarta, tetapi kita habis hanya untuk mengarunginya.

Belum lagi masalah konsumsi.

Barang, jasa, barang atau jasa, barang dan jasa, barang dan/atau jasa, atau bahkan komoditas-komoditas unik lainnya. Uang seakan-akan hal yang pasti anda perlukan dan dapatkan bila ada disini.

Letih.

Dan hanya memang keletihan yang terasa di akhir hari. Letih bertemu orang yang sama, letih berjalan mengais hidup, letih ketika di akhir pekan harus bekerja ketimbang tidur sampai siang, letih yang sama ketika bangun terlalu siang dan letih menyesal kenapa tidur sampai siang.

Kabur adalah jawaban, kabur adalah solusi. Kabur dari Jakarta berarti kabur dari permasalahan, Kabur dari keletihan. Lalu kabur pun menjadi kultur, kultur eskapisme.

Kultur eskapisme ini sendiri pun tergantung kepada orang-orangnya. Para realis menuju sebuah kenyataan bahwa kabur selamanya bukan pilihan, mereka perlu bekerja, berbakti kepada orang tua, mengejar kesejahteraan dunia dan kalau bisa mengejar sebuah kebahagiaan akhirat, kalau mereka bisa bertahan menjadi seorang realis.

Seorang idealis, tak akan berpikir bahwa dirinya harus kembali ke realitas, mereka bisa kabur selama-lamanya. Terus-menerus lari, to become a stranger in a strange lands, sampai pada akhirnya ajal menjemput saya kira. Mereka bisa datang dari berbagai kalangan, mereka yang bisa melawan dan bertahan. Mereka yang menjadi role model dari para realis, dan mereka juga yang mungkin menginginkan menjadi seorang realis.

Akhirnya mengingat seorang teman yang menjadi seorang realis dan idealis pada saat yang bersamaan, karena pekerjaan dan nama besarnya sudah memungkinkan ia untuk kabur berlama-lama tetapi tetap memiliki simpanan untuk akhir hayatnya.

Jakarta makin panas yah, gw sekarang udah kaga demen keluar-keluar, mending disini aja. Kerja.

Tar Juli aja baru jalan, mau 2 bulan ke Eropa.

Ngapain?

Ya, kerja.

Citra & Sondang

Citra & Sondang, the two may met in a very orthodox fashion, but the way they take their relationship is somehow an unorthodox one, because they spend a very long time for themselves to start their relationship. Having knew each other since high school to university life and finally working together in the same city, but they only start their relationship two years ago.Why? simply because they want it to be perfect.

Citra & Sondang, started off by becoming friends, they have the same circles whom they always met when they're back to their hometown. Citra, a pharmacist by training, is a serious person who's keen on adventures, designs and arts. Sondang, on the other hand, is a shy engineer with calculated minds but possessing of what I called a natural talent to break the ice. A bit of a mismatch? I highly doubt so.

Citra & Sondang, they posses something that some other couples might not have. Sondang didn't try to become a new person when he's with Citra and vice versa and they certainly did not do so in front of the camera. One's might frown or even laugh when they're together, but then when you think about it, they have what it takes to carry them against the times and tides. The ability to convey the exact words of what their feeling can express, a raw value called honesty.

Because when you think about it, what matter most isn't what you see now. What matter most is how to carry it forward, a relationship between two persons should not be stagnant such also the persons should be evolved from time to time, and when you see Citra & Sondang you'll understand that there are no better ways to evolve, rather than to learn and listen.

Carpe Diem: A Photography Exhibition by GFJA Workshop Class of XVI

The poet Horace had once said “Seize the day, putting as little trust as possible in the future”, a definition comparable to the “decisive moment”, a simultaneous recognition in a fraction of a second the significance of an event. In photography, it meant to worry less about all other things and concentrate on what’s in front of you and in the right moment, immortalize it.

Such are the works of Antara PhotoJournalistic Gallery Workshop Class of XVI, they seize day after another, chasing for that perfect moment and finally be able to exhibit their work in the Gallery at Pasar Baru from March 11 to April 9th 2011.

Unlike other workshops which are conducted over a short period of time, this workshop actually  is conducted for almost a year, bringing not only knowledge but also many great experiences for the students. Susi Muhammad, one of the Basic Program student who had initially accompanied her child for the selection process, only to find that she’s the one that gets into the program had said that the program was a great learning experience for her, to know more about the process of photography and apply it in her interest such as cultures and craft. Mira, a student on the journalistic program who made a photo essay about lesbian lovers affectionately titled “Story of Pineapple & Strawberry”, said that now she has completed her education in Antara, she views camera as not a mere instrument to document something, but a medium to produce expressions or opinions. She also said that being in a journalistic class also forced her to be more creative with written words, to create a story to accompany the pictures.

Unlike other workshops which are conducted over a short period of time, this workshop actually  is conducted for almost a year, bringing not only knowledge but also many great experiences for the students. Susi Muhammad, one of the Basic Program student who had initially accompanied her child for the selection process, only to find that she’s the one that gets into the program had said that the program was a great learning experience for her, to know more about the process of photography and apply it in her interest such as cultures and craft. Mira, a student on the journalistic program who made a photo essay about lesbian lovers affectionately titled “Story of Pineapple & Strawberry”, said that now she has completed her education in Antara, she views camera as not a mere instrument to document something, but a medium to produce expressions or opinions. She also said that being in a journalistic class also forced her to be more creative with written words, to create a story to accompany the pictures.

Oscar Motuloh, the curator of Antara Gallery, state that Carpe Diem and the class of XVI is special; due to the fact that there are many events happening in Indonesia in 2010, which directly or indirectly help to shape the student’s instinct and more importantly perspectives. Oscar also said that every class of Antara Workshop have their own style, due to the outside influence although the syllabus (and mentors) remain the same.

After finishing my interview with Oscar, I looked at the profiles of the class of XVI and attendees of the gallery whom are armed with every kind of camera; DLSRs, Analogs, Lomos, Cellphone Cameras and Pockets, although they held a different kind of cameras, they all had the same passion. Photography. One of them could be the next Cartier-Bresson, the next Capa, the next Julian Sihombing or probably the next Oscar Motuloh.

Then it comes to my mind, the words that was being held by the Class of XVI: “Lalu bagaimana besok? Tak perlu risau, karena mereka adalah mentari hari esok fotografi kita” (So how’s tomorrow? No need to worry, because they are our future photography suns) and I go back with a smile because I know that there’re still great photographs and great photographers in the making.

First Commercial Project: A Retrospective

Finally I decided it would be nice for me to take a second jobs, and because of photography remain to be the area that I am most aware or as I put it as more knowledgable I decided to market myself in the ever expanding world of photography. However, while photojournalism remains as my biggest dream (who isn't?), I started to become a wedding  photographer first, while finding work in media. And today I have my first job, my first commercial shooting for a friend pre wedding and this writing  will be my concern over the project, how to become a freelancer and what to do and what not to do.

PW-001 Having a friend as a client is a privilege, you know them well, you can easily connect with them, you can tell jokes etc, however it sometimes hard to maintain your professionalism, this is why a standard working procedure should come in handy (although I didn’t have a written one).

I start of the project by having a meeting with my clients, I asked what are their vision of the picture, what kind of picture they wanted, where should the picture be taken and is a theme involved? would be very great if they can show me the example of the picture and actively discuss into the details of the work and being on the other end, we should always give a nod to what client say and when it will be utter impossible don't afraid to say no. Next I will be discussing the fees, in which you should put a baseline for every project that you took ( i.e. 500K for a pre-wed, 200K for portraiture, etc) this will be very crucial, you have to know how many pictures that you could took, edit and give to your clients, you're also describe to your client whether your travel expenses, accommodations, meals are being covered with the fees or it is in a separate bill.

a note: please make again a SOP regarding this meals and accommodations, how much can you spend on a meal? how much is it for your accommodations? ask whether you should arrange it yourself or it is pre-arrange by the clients? Please discuss this with your clients or alternatively put it down on your project proposal (which is better because it is on a written documents) regarding all information concerning the fees

The Shooting Period

Next is the shooting, I can only say be prepared. On the weather, the client last minutes changes or any other particular things. For sure you can't always depend on your luck if you're shooting and always have a plan how a shot would be conducted and several backup plans.

Your plans will of course depend largely on your negation with the client and what are they request, and this, will largely determine what kind of kit you're bringing to the shootings.

Assuming you have a DSLR, you're going to bring a few lenses and flash and probably tripod for the, being a newcomer in this business, I only bring my 18-135 mm f3.5-5.6, 50mm f1.8, a tripod and a flashgun (in which I did not use the flash and the tripod at all) while that's probably cover your portraiture and landscape there are no specialized lens yet, I might suggest to bring a macro to shoot out some details of the shots or swap it with the 50mm.

The Editing

Your editing skills with your technique will become your personal touch, your style even. People will either love it or loathe it, so please consider a lot when you decide to move that exposure to the left.

At first, the client might ask you to have this kind of tone or that kind, however as time progresses you will notices trend among photographers' portfolio about "what kind of tone is in trend now", even  more  than just that.  Therefore the best thing you should do is of course look for trends, see other's portfolio and try it for your self.

What if your creative vision is being torn apart by your clients' need? should you follow them? for this my suggestion is that, you can create some sample prints first to show your client about their tone you create and according to their taste, sure it's double work but then if you had your creative juice out from your head, isn't that a liberating feeling?

The Prints and Frames

I've been lucky to know some affordable book printing and framing services, had our mutual agreement and generally work hand in hand to deliver something for the client.

Having this kind of support will of course be a plus point, because you can offer more services to your client, and helping a fellow photo business as well.

Management

Know how to manage your documents, workspace, proposal, branding , gears and most importantly, your photographs! and always remember backup them.

Secondly always update your portfolio, I don't know about the usage of digital media (tablet in this case) such as iPad, Galaxy Tab or Motorola Xoom for displaying your portfolio but sometimes the vintage and the rares (like books) is showing more of a personal touch rather than cold piece of beautiful technology.

Market your work in a suitable place and time, especially if photography is not your first job, make suitable and sensible travel schedule.

The Minor Differences

Handling 1000D is like handling a single bullet-gun like those of Tallulah Black, you aim, pull the trigger and bam! while 7D is a sophisticated alien weapon, with a question hanging on your head like "Can you control this beast?" and "Am I fast enough for this instrument?" oh and yeah, I change my gun to 7D now.

Pecha Kucha Night Bandung Vol.10 & CS Bandung Gathering 03.07.10

On the middle of June, Ririe one of the CouchSurfing city ambassador of Bandung contacted me for my availability on 3rd July to present the Project on Pecha Kucha Night in Bandung and I was psyched! Since I'm not really familiar with the 20x20 format, I had to made some preparation  by learning how to make one and by attending Pecha Kucha Night in Jakarta. I had a revelation promise made to the people that I'll write something regarding how it goes.

So I start:

Let me begin to explain what is Pecha Kucha, it is a fun, fast, idea filled night where few presenters will go up there one by one presenting just about everything! regarding photography, architecture, travel ideas, communities and etc. It was first devised by 2 architects; Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture on 2003 in Tokyo. The reason? because architect tend to speak unnecessarily during their presentation (quite the same for  few of us).

First city to be introduced by Pecha Kucha virus in Indonesia is none other than: Bandung, which entirely make sense since it is the city of reference for art and other creative approach. Last night make the 10th volume of the Bandung Pecha Kucha Night and what makes it more special is that it collaborates with CouchSurfing making the audience not only ranging from non-CS/Pecha Kucha Regular Patrons.

Leaving Jakarta from 10 AM, we started to get the idea that it is a good thing not to bring your private car to Bandung in the weekend because it was hell, after experiencing of bits of this and that in Bandung (read: Gokana Teppan in Ciwalk) we finally trying to figure out how do we go to the venue:

Labo The Mori.

Located in Dago Atas, this place is defined as "public space for fun and creativity". Have hosted most of the Pecha Kucha Night in Bandung it is really a venue to fit its purposes. An amphitheater like place with large white sheet for presentation located in the middle hanged in between two large trees. Labo The Mori is also the HQ for the Labo. Architecture+Design firm, which makes it the most perfect Studio slash Office with modern taste of home and library.

One other thing that makes it perfect; you don't need any air conditioner there due to the cool air of Dago plus the rain we had that night.

20x20

1. Tiyok PDW 2. Semarak.BDG 3. Ramini - Mei/Ayu/Aur-Tasik Batik 4. Ririn W. Soedarsono-Tenun Ikat 5. SM Ika Wulandari - Salsa Dance 6. Ivan Hadi Pranatha - Toy Cam 7. Intan Anggia Wardani- Sundanese Traditional Dance 8. Lunalda Kanzeila-Studio Alam Bebas 9. Ridzki Noviansyah - Project 365 10. Eva/Santos - Jejak Kaki 11. Roswita Amelinda - Angklung Web Institute 12. Adrian Ben - Game Developing 13. Nancy Margaretha - CouchSurfing 14. Pasar Seni 10.10.10 15. Anggie Retno Sari- Au Pair France 16. Phebe Wibisana- Food -O-Graphy 17. Maulana Yudiman- Tasik Funtastic Kuliner

That is the list of presenter who come in Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 10, I gotta say while all are captivating and entertaining at the same time, the show stealers come from Pasar Seni 10.10.10 ITB, with their theatrical approach. Maulana Yudiman as well as Phebe had pretty strong followers too due to the fact the present about food, when the audience are hungry and cold.

Finally it was my turn afert Ivan (btw the list is not in order, the organizer made it that it goes with the topic which is being discussed), I gotta say it's hard, 20 seconds could be too fast and too slow depends on how you speak, thankfully though I made it till the end. In the end we concluded by watching the second half of Germany V. Argentina.

Anyhow, it really was a great night in a great place, the only drawback is the lack of hot indomie with chili padi if I may complain.

Therefore kudos to the organizers and to the presenters, will try to attend both JKT and BDG Pecha Kucha Night from now on and see another great presentations from great people.

Pecha Kucha Night Bandung Vol.10 & CS Bandung Gathering 03.07.10

On the middle of June, Ririe one of the CouchSurfing city ambassador of Bandung contacted me for my availability on 3rd July to present the Project on Pecha Kucha Night in Bandung and I was psyched! Since I'm not really familiar with the 20x20 format, I had to made some preparation  by learning how to make one and by attending Pecha Kucha Night in Jakarta. I had a revelation promise made to the people that I'll write something regarding how it goes.

So I start:

Let me begin to explain what is Pecha Kucha, it is a fun, fast, idea filled night where few presenters will go up there one by one presenting just about everything! regarding photography, architecture, travel ideas, communities and etc. It was first devised by 2 architects; Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture on 2003 in Tokyo. The reason? because architect tend to speak unnecessarily during their presentation (quite the same for  few of us).

First city to be introduced by Pecha Kucha virus in Indonesia is none other than: Bandung, which entirely make sense since it is the city of reference for art and other creative approach. Last night make the 10th volume of the Bandung Pecha Kucha Night and what makes it more special is that it collaborates with CouchSurfing making the audience not only ranging from non-CS/Pecha Kucha Regular Patrons.

Leaving Jakarta from 10 AM, we started to get the idea that it is a good thing not to bring your private car to Bandung in the weekend because it was hell, after experiencing of bits of this and that in Bandung (read: Gokana Teppan in Ciwalk) we finally trying to figure out how do we go to the venue:

Labo The Mori.

Located in Dago Atas, this place is defined as "public space for fun and creativity". Have hosted most of the Pecha Kucha Night in Bandung it is really a venue to fit its purposes. An amphitheater like place with large white sheet for presentation located in the middle hanged in between two large trees. Labo The Mori is also the HQ for the Labo. Architecture+Design firm, which makes it the most perfect Studio slash Office with modern taste of home and library.

One other thing that makes it perfect; you don't need any air conditioner there due to the cool air of Dago plus the rain we had that night.

20x20

1. Tiyok PDW 2. Semarak.BDG 3. Ramini - Mei/Ayu/Aur-Tasik Batik 4. Ririn W. Soedarsono-Tenun Ikat 5. SM Ika Wulandari - Salsa Dance 6. Ivan Hadi Pranatha - Toy Cam 7. Intan Anggia Wardani- Sundanese Traditional Dance 8. Lunalda Kanzeila-Studio Alam Bebas 9. Ridzki Noviansyah - Project 365 10. Eva/Santos - Jejak Kaki 11. Roswita Amelinda - Angklung Web Institute 12. Adrian Ben - Game Developing 13. Nancy Margaretha - CouchSurfing 14. Pasar Seni 10.10.10 15. Anggie Retno Sari- Au Pair France 16. Phebe Wibisana- Food -O-Graphy 17. Maulana Yudiman- Tasik Funtastic Kuliner

That is the list of presenter who come in Pecha Kucha Night Vol. 10, I gotta say while all are captivating and entertaining at the same time, the show stealers come from Pasar Seni 10.10.10 ITB, with their theatrical approach. Maulana Yudiman as well as Phebe had pretty strong followers too due to the fact the present about food, when the audience are hungry and cold.

Finally it was my turn afert Ivan (btw the list is not in order, the organizer made it that it goes with the topic which is being discussed), I gotta say it's hard, 20 seconds could be too fast and too slow depends on how you speak, thankfully though I made it till the end. In the end we concluded by watching the second half of Germany V. Argentina.

Anyhow, it really was a great night in a great place, the only drawback is the lack of hot indomie with chili padi if I may complain.

Therefore kudos to the organizers and to the presenters, will try to attend both JKT and BDG Pecha Kucha Night from now on and see another great presentations from great people.

TLSD Street Photography-Reading Material

What is Street Photography?

To define street photography is quite a challenge, directly based on the name, we can argue that street photography is photographs or images taken on the street, however it is more complex than its name. Wikipedia define it as a branch of documentary photography where the subject's is taken in candid situations. While the key word here is candid, not necessarily all candid photography can be street. Confused much? The one which makes street photography different than any other candid photography is the moment which we take the images which is called “the decisive moment” but more on that later.

There are few things that makes Street Photography unique. First, it can be taken by any kind of camera by any kind ofpeople.Cartier-Bressonmight be using a Leica M9 during his days, but somebody with a Blackberry or iPhone to say can also capture street photography nowadays. Second, the moment you captured can’t be repeated in time, true you can’t do this with any landscape pictures as well however you can always visit the place and take another stunning pictures or make it more creative than the one you did at the last time. Third, street photographer and photography care more about the detail on the images rather than the usual composition, exposure, and richness in colours heck the best street images is mostly taken in mono thus enhancing the details rather than captivating the viewers with the colours.

As been said before any camera can be used to take street images or as to put it on Chase Jarvis’ words “The best camera is the one you have on your possession”. Practically you will need these things to create your imagesratherthana70-200mm f/1.8 fancy lens; high observation skills, lightning reflexes, great sense of humour, a lot of imagination, plenty of patience and a dash of serendipity but the most important thing is to put your heart on every images you took.

The Decisive Moment

Before I talk about “The Decisive Moment” in street photography lets review what street photographer has to say regarding the photography and the process of taking the images itself.

“When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice."- Robert Frank.

“Primarily Street Photography is not reportage, it is not a series of images displaying, together, the different facets of a subject or issue. For the Street Photographer there is no specific subject matter and only the issue of ‘life’ in general, he does not leave the house in the morning with an agenda and he doesn’t visualise his photographs in advance of taking them. Street Photography is about seeing and reacting, almost by-passing thought altogether.” - Nick Turpin.

By looking at the words above we can say that all the words justify that photography is indeed a very subjective matter, however there are still aspect that been agreed, that it is a form of a very beautiful art, regardless of what people might comment about it.

Now back to “The Decisive Moment”

Imagine the one day you get married with the person that your parent choose for you, you become a rebel first and argue with them but no avail you still get married, but on the date you decide to run with the person you truly love, that is the decisive moment, a split second decision which will make or break the whole picture in which in this case your life. Fortunately though we won’t go through to that extreme.

Let’s put that into photography senses, the decisive moment only show up in a fraction of a second like example of images I’ve shown in this material. On Bye by Hade Maulin, we can see that there’s a Somalian boys waving goodbye to him, however on the background we can see that there’s another boy waving at him, if he misses this and only capture the boy on the foreground probably the image wouldn’t be as powerful as the one he captured. The same with Jumping by Tse Seng, the image is under the very impression that the girl is jumping from the boat on the foreground to the one in the background, if let’s say he misses this he might still get a good picture but then not entirely striking as this one.

We can conclude then that “decisive moment” could not be achieved by simple snap-shooting or just any candid images. There are some level of discipline needed to create the images with decisive moment shown, as been said in the beginning as well we only need a dash of serendipity as compared to a greater amount of other things.

Tips and Tricks

Photography is a subjective matters indeed, however there are several tips and/or tricks that can be useful for taking great street photography. High observation skills, lightning reflexes, great sense of humour, a lot of imagination, plenty of patience and a dash of serendipity are all depended on you and your luck now I’ll explain all the other things that beyond your control.

1st You will need a camera, which is sound very obvious but I’ll add that you’ll need a camera which you know inside out. You should know how to get good exposure from it, you  should know its flaws like the shutter lag or the lack of image stabilisation and you should be always sure that you have a fresh formatted memory card and great deal of battery juice.

2nd Study the subjects, the places and the time when you’re taking your images. Imagine you wanted to take a street photograph in a cemetery at 3 AM, you might get something worthy to be photographed yes, but you will not fit the purpose on the first place. Remember I only said to study the people’s and places’ behaviour, you can’t really get stuck with your own with your mindset of what images you wanted to take.

3rd Practise, practise, practise. Go out, take your camera and get as many images you can take or go to exhibitions, read books and catalogues find inspirations in those and then take more pictures. You can join photosharing site as well, ask for critiques and questions. Never give up and keep taking em images.

4th Is to remember that the rules are there to guide you, but then it is up to yourself to find your pace, know which rules to break and keep. Be unique, be creative, 5 person can take 5 landscape images which contain the same composition and exposure at different times of the year, but if one of them put one element that break the rules, guess which one will capture the attention.

The Inside State

of my minds

KL in A Flash

"After leaving Malaysia for a year after my graduations, I finally went back to witness my sister's graduation ceremony. Congratulations to her and congratulate also for the rest of the young bloods. May the force be with you always. And this is a glimpse of KL that I'm able to capture during that short period of time."

A Travel Through Time

Done it on the last weekend and finally have the chance to visit the infamous Cafe Batavia as well. Last time I visited here the area is crowded with exhibition, this time it was the sea of people and the sellers as well as tweenies from school.

Unto Hyperspace!

Faster than light

Defeat the times

To the unknown

Become one with the force

The Sands are Whispering, The Paths They are Changing

I stopped and looked at the back today Do I see beauty?

Do I see destructions?

I never know

Because none ever matters

Matters no one ever.