Shooting with natural light only

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 05/20/2007 8:04 AM  |  Life

Aruna Harjani, Contributor, Jakarta

If the French people are celebrating the election of a new president, Gerard Rondeau ""popped the champagne cork"" at the opening of his photography exhibition.

The event runs through May 25 at this year's French spring festival, at the National Gallery, Central Jakarta.

Rondeau was invited by CCF (the French cultural center) two months ago to come to Jakarta to take pictures of the city and some of its people.

Rondeau, a genius in using natural light only, produced portraits in black-and-white of people from Jakarta who are connected with the arts world.

There are portraits of Nano and Ratna Riantoro, Ayu Utami, Oscar Lawalata, Oscar Motuloh, Ade Dharmawan, Firman Ichsan, Edi Purnomo and Hanafi. Ex-president Sukarno's photo was taken from a picture frame.

Born in 1953 in Chalon-sur-Marne, France, Rondeau grew up in Champagne. Fifteen years later he went to school to study history until the social revolution started in May 1968, when students demonstrated and demanded greater freedom.

Rondeau, fighting for the cause, packed his bags and headed for Sri Lanka, where he was hired to teach French. It was in one of his book exhibitions that he saw a book on photography by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

After going through the pages, he was captivated by pictures that had so much to say. From that day on, Rondeau's life changed; he took pictures and became a self-taught photographer.

The other pictures in the exhibition were taken of things one wouldn't look twice at, but, amazingly, Rondeau captured them.

In one of his pictures, he has shot a girl sitting on the ground in a street with papers scattered all over the place. Another is a picture of the heads of mannequins in a shop selling scarves. Two complete rows of heads are covered with scarves.

Another place one would not even look at is the corridor of a train station where the train is passing through, or the balcony of a house with a few clothes hanging, overlooking the street, and a corridor with overused, dilapidated chairs.

He took a picture of a trash cart with bottles inside it. A highlight is an image of Jakarta by night, car headlamps and streetlights making the city appear like Los Angeles at night.

Rondeau explains that when one takes a picture, you have to find the right time, because a place in daylight may look prosaic but when taken at night, it can take on extraordinary qualities.

Since Rondeau is an official portrait photographer for Le Monde in France, he has brought with him portraits published in the newspaper.

He took a picture of a prosthetic leg that is displayed in a museum. It was taken at such an angle no one would believe it is made of clay.

Rondeau says that when taking pictures one should encourage ""confusion"". There is more life in the non-living than in people.

He says that when people go to a museum and look at statues, the artworks are the ones that are observing us, although they are not alive: They are the ones with ""life"" because there is so much to interpret in the way they are created.

Rondeau advises those who wish to start clicking with their cameras to be highly observant; one should pay attention to every detail, every image your iris captures.

Rondeau will be available to take people's portraits while he is in Jakarta. To make an appointment call Astri Onegan at the CCF office at 3908585.

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