Photographic Individual Expression

Happy New Year 2012!

This is the beginning of the new hopes,

new wishes,

new plan,

new dream.

Really?

Or, it might just be the next step of continuing our previous ones.

Anyway,

the main point is,

we’ll always continue to keep enjoying our work,

and keep maintaining our dream.

A small feature about my trip from Surabaya to Jakarta commonly in a manual WB.

Finally the late Prof. Dedy N. Hidayat’s book “Self-originated Being!” was released on November, 8th 2011. I feel honoured that my photographs of Mr Dedy was published as the cover and inserted on the ending pages.

Prof Dedy N. Hidayat (1951 – 2010) was a lecturer of Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Indonesia. He graduated his first degree of communication science in University of Indonesia on 1980); School of Journalism, Ohio University (Master of Science, 1984); and, College of Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin (Ph.D in mass communication, 1994). Okey Dokey, now I’d try to share you the review of this book in Bahasa Indonesia and in English.

Bahasa Indonesia :

“… ia ingin dikenang bukan dari baju biru muda dengan celana beige yang biasa ia kenakan sebagai identitasnya, tapi dengan buah pikiran dan tindakannya. He was totally self-originated being; he was who he created”. Adalah serangkaian frase dari penggalan kata pengantar dari Dr. Pinckey Triputra, M.Sc. dalam mendeskripsikan Prof Dedy. Beliau memang insan yang unik, dalam hal berpenampilan dan berinteraksi dengan para mahasiswanya. Namun di balik keunikan tersebut tertabung sebuah kekayaan intelektual yang membuatnya memperoleh penghormatan dan menjadi inspirasi bagi kalangan akademisi ilmu komunikasi di Indonesia.

Membaca tulisan Prof Dedy tidaklah terlalu mudah dipahami secara umum sebab pembacanya seyogyanya membutuhkan bekal pengetahuan tentang studi kritis atau politik ekonomi.  “Self-originated Being!” adalah kumpulan artikel opini yang ditulis Prof Dedy di Kompas selama 1979 – 2009 yang umumnya merupakan opini terhadap realita sosial di Indonesia dan dunia internasional. Sebanyak 41 judul artikel beliau dibagi ke dalam 5 bab antara lain:

I.            Kapitalisme, Xenophobia Barat, dan Pudarnya Dunia Ketiga.

II.            Nasionalisme, Globalisasi, dan Teknologi Pembebasan.

III.            Proyek Demokrasi, Bubble Politics Presiden, dan Robohnya Rasionalitas.

IV.            Mahasiswa Baru, Pengangguran Profesi, dan Pudarnya Pendidikan Tinggi.

V.            Politik Media, Opini Publik, dan Paradoks Kebebasan Pers.

Prof Dedy N. Hidayat memang telah meninggalkan kita pada 9 November 2010. Namun membaca “Self-originated Being!” akan membawa kita berinteraksi dengan beliau dan bersilaturahmi dengan critical stock-of-knowledge nya.

English :

“… he wanted to be remembered not by his light blue shirt with beige pants he used to wear as his identity, but by his thoughts and actions. He was totally self-originated being; he was who he created”. That is a series of phrases from the preface of Dr. Pinckey Triputra, M.Sc. in describing Prof. Dedy. Prof Dedy  was a unique human being, in terms of his grooming and interacting with his students. But behind his uniqueness, there is a huge tank of intellectual richness that makes him gaining respect and becoming the inspiration for the communication science academic persons in Indonesia.
Reading the writings of Prof. Dedy is not so easily and commonly understood if the readers do not have a sufficient basic knowledge about the critical study of political economic study. “Self-originated Being!” is a collection of opinion articles written by Prof. Dedy at Kompas during 1979 – 2009 which were his opinions about the social reality in Indonesia and internationally. Forty one titles of his articles are divided into 5 chapters :
I. Capitalism, Western Xenophobia, and the Fading of the Third World.
II. Nationalism, Globalization, and the Technology Liberation.
III. Project of Democracy, President’s  Bubble Politics, and the Fall of Rationality.
IV. New Student, Professional  Unemployment, and The Fading of Higher Education.
V. Media Politics, Public Opinion, and the Freedom of the Press Paradox.
Prof. Dedy N. Hidayat has left us on November 9, 2010. But by reading “Self-originated Being!”  would bring us to interact with him and go deep into his critical stock-of-knowledge.

To order “Self-originated Being!”, you can make a contact with Mr Ir. Firman Kurniawan Sujono, M.Si at 0811140199 or his Facebook at Firman Kurniawan. The book is Rp 60.000 (plus Rp 15.000 for the courier fee).

Mirroring photography is a category of photography that depicting an object and its reflection on a surface in one frame. This kind of photography is usually used in a back-of-the stage or behind-the-scene situation. This time I would try to show you one of my portfolio that was attached on my thesis in post-graduate program, communication science, University of Indonesia which was entitled “Visual Representation in Sensual Photography of Maxim and ME Asia – A comparative study between the franchised male magazine and the Indonesia-to-Southeast Asia male magazine”

I use this photograph as a case example of a sub chapter about low-key lighting photograph. I took a photo series of Lenni Fikalia doing her make-up in front of a mirror. I was setting my camera on f/5.6, 1/15s, ISO 1600, Auto WB, in FL = 48mm. Black & white conversion and multiframe combining were using ACDSee Pro 3 and Coreldraw X4.

Months ago I was having my flight for the first time in my life on my 30 years of age. So late, ain’t it? Even though this airways is having a bit negative public opinion, I just would like to thank by sharing my first flight experience through these pictures. Honestly I held my camera for reducing my nervousness on the plane. “Will I vomit?; How can I reach there?; How if the plane machine gets troubled?; What should I do after I’m down to the airport?” were the questions in my head from the plane was on the ground to the up in the air.

Thank you, Lion Air. For more detail about the techniques, please, click on the photographs.

A traditional market is still a phenomenon of social existence in their struggle among the progressive competition of malls and plazas. This is a public sphere where we can see everyone from every segment of people coming in and out for the meeting of demands and supplies. From lower and middle class citizens who stereotypedly we assume as the common majority in this place, to the upper class who act as if they were among the ordinaries who actually as a whole buyers seeking the cheapest deals and the owner of some selling points who actually have a luxurious house and they have kids having their studies abroad.

What I like from a crowded place like this traditional market is the challenge to capture the scenes in a condition where people usually aware the presence of a photographer then they will be curiously shy to act like usual. I usually make a direct approach to have a small chat, to greet and ask something and telling a  joke to them so I can build a kind of temporary closeness. I took the pictures at the Tanjung market and Trunojoyo market, Jember, East Java.

A view of a vegetable store

The basket seller and her daughter

Mrs Hajah and Mrs Tacik. It's the picture of a moslem local woman and the catholic Chinese woman who sell side by side in a line. This is one unique characteristic of a traditional market where multicultural people live in harmony. They have been at about 10 years selling their breads and meat side by side.

The chicken seller chopping the meat.

A line of Parking Lot

Crowd on the stair

Rubber cat fish and palm-oil ship toy each for Rp 10.000

A working woman and a sleeping man.

Trash id the only silence of the market.

The Bra Master

The last post of Al Azhar University of Indonesia was about the people at this workplace, especially the lecturers and the administratives. This time I wanna show you the non humanist scenes. I captured some spaces inside this university. Because my main interest is ‘the space’ so I took the picture in the silent feel of visuality and able to rise a different interpretation of seeing the pictures. I posted this occasionally in the context of this university new start of the season.

I set these pictures in a manual WB on camera. BW and sephia conversion were on ACDSee Pro 2. Hope you enjoy this and thank you

This is Lenni Fikalia a.k.a. Lenny Vickalia.  I took some pictures again of her. It’s been months ago actually the time I met her to have a photo session and just this time I managed a time to short and select her photographs.

The theme of this session is “official”. Vicka used a formal official dressing, minimalistic make-up, and a flowing capturing. I did the photo editing  in converting BW/sephia, a few RGB adjustment, and a heal-spotting to one of her fairly big acne on her forehead. The other thing is in realist manner since I tend to be a naturalist/realist in photography.

I proudly present and share her beauty to you this moment. Enjoy

You won’t see a crowded people come and go. You won’t feel how noise the bus crews shouts begging us to come into their bus. We won’t see the sellers offer you snacks, drinks, and food. Because what’ll you see here is a silence at bus station when it comes to midnight. A peaceful scene but it draws a sorrow that will touch your social and sensible sense, if you care to look it deep with your heart.

Indonesian Independence Day,  17th of August 1945.