Bitter Sweet

        i had a chance to visit the tasikmadu sugar factory during my last trip to Solo. unfortunately, because of my poor timing, there was no significant activities during my visit. the factory workers are busy doing maintenance on  the machines so it will be ready to use on april. 

        sugar factories such as Tasikmadu has to deal with the fear of being shutdown every year, mostly due to the fact that they are unable to compete with imported sugar. 

        how long will this century old sugar factory survive? we shall see..

Teater Sastra Baju Baru Sang Raja -Backstage edition-

For me, what goes on behind the curtain is far more intriguing. The anxiety, excitement, fatigue and passion can be seen easily on the face of the actors and crews involved in the performance, The same can be seen on the face of these guys, Teater Sastra.  

For your information,  it was through teater sastra that i found my passion in photography, not to mention that i had a good few years of my life with them. My very first camera was bought to document their performance, Sayang, aku HIV, Kamu ngapain aja? in 2007 if i'm not mistaken. So its only natural i kept coming back to the place where i found my photography.

here's a few images from backstage

idul adha

pros or cons?

rendezvous

JEMBER FASHION CARNIVAL X : EYES ON TRIUMPH

This years Jember Fashion Carnival was held at jember, east java (where else would it be, d’oh) on july 24th, 2011.

Claimed to be one of the biggest and longest carnival in the world by its founder, Dynand Fariz, the carnival was certainly the best in Indonesia. With more than 3 km of catwalk and hundreds of performers wearing extravagant and colorful costumes, it was certainly interesting.

Entering its tenth year, the carnival decided to chose the best theme themes from its previous carnivals, the themes chosen were punk, india, athena, tsunami, borneo, bali, roots, animal plant, butterfly and royal kingdom that was inspired by the royal wedding.

I managed to arrive a few days before the event, and witnessed for myself the incredible efforts that the performers has put in perfecting their performance. Their daily rigourous rehearsal and costant improvements on their costumes shows that their spirit was high, even though the cost of making the costumes came from their own pocket.

We were allowed to shot the preparation of the performers before the carnival. It was early in the morning when i arrived at the venue, i went straight to the place whre the performers were doing make up and preparing their costumes. It was a great chance to capture several behind the scene shots, but there were a lot of photographers (most of them were annoying, really really annoying, and i’m pretty certain that most of them where just showing of their gear) thinking the same way as i did.

If you’re a photographer, you would love and hate to shoot JFC, because the privilages you are given. Photographers were assigned to spesific areas where they can shoot comfortably, but the implemention of these specific areas was sadly ignored. It was chaotic, it was hard to get a nice and clean image, when other photogs insisted in getting into your frame.

The crowd’s eagerness suddenly turned to worst when they manage to breach the fence that was meant to give the protection for the performers. The inability of the security consisting of the police, the army and several local residents was predictably, because they were severely outnumbered. After talking to several people, it came to my attention that it happens every year. Suddenly, I pity the performers that were unable to perform fully due to the condition caused of the crowd.

all in all, the carnival certainly attracts attention to the small city of jember, hotels were fully booked by national and international tourists, the media coverage was abundant. these will bring wonders to the towns economy. But the overall management of the event needs to be improve drastically, especially in terms of crowd control. If people cannot enjoy JFC, i’m certain that people will not be interested in coming for a second visit.