Black and white portraits of fashion models by Irezz Pratama, for instance, not only displayed his mastery over the medium — the scenes were perfectly lit and skin tones gorgeously exposed — but also his aptitude in arranging compositions that magnified the best qualities of the subject matters.

A photograph of three beautiful models with different skin complexions was arguably his best work in the exhibit since it underscored his technical skills and his proficiency in visual storytelling. In this case, the picture of three girls had morphed into more than just a fashion product: it had, to a certain extent, become a metaphor of the diversity of our world.

Held at SATTU Studio in the island’s plush neighborhood of Canggu, the two-day exhibit, Feb. 10-11, featured the creations of the island’s nine young photographers, who work for Terralogical, a Bali-based wedding photography agency.

Founded six years ago by Govinda Rumi and Bonjo Abadi, both were in their early 20s back then, Terralogical was initially not designed to be a full-time pursuit. It was simply a means for these two young photographers to raise money for traveling to distant countries.

Govinda, Terralogical’s resident philosopher, summed up their wanderlust eloquently on his website.

“Having been born in Bali, which most people refer to as ‘the destination’ to visit, I’ve always wanted to travel, and that’s probably where my heart is. Being lost in places, meeting people and seeing things I have never seen before feeds my curiosity of the world,” he wrote.

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Wedding photography, Govinda said, was the melting pot of photography, inside of which the combination of various photographic skills and genres — portraiture, still-life, candid, documentary and lifestyle — were all utilized on one single occasion, often in one single day.

“A Humble Beginning” itself marked Terralogical’s effort to expand its venture by launching two sub-brands: Lenterra and Venterra. The former offers services in commercial, fashion, food and architecture photography, while the latter for events and conferences.

Irezz will act as Lenterra’s principal photographer, while Anggara Mahendra, who has made his name as one of Bali’s most promising photojournalists, will be Venterra’s principal photographer. Other participating photographers in the exhibit were Bonjo Abadi, Govinda Rumi, Indra Baron, Tutde Darmayasa, Budy Pratama, Syafiudin Vifick and Stanny Angga.

“Most are in their late 20s and the remaining few, including myself, are in our early 30s, and we share one similar visual perspective: we want to create a good story. Whether we shoot a three day-long conference attended by hundreds of people, an intimate wedding or a restaurant’s new menu, we strive to create a captivating story, a personalized one, out of it,” Govinda said.

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The 92 works that formed “A Humble Beginning” clearly captured that perspective and the exuberant disposition of their photographers. For instance, a series of photographs cocreated by Anggara Mahendra and Stanny Angga at a major international conference in Nusa Dua captured the event as both a “faceless” massive gathering and meaningful encounters of individuals, cleverly combining wide, medium and close-up shots to underline the transition between the conference’s formal and informal moods.

The exhibition clearly showed the visual power of the island’s new generation of photographers.

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