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Shutterbugs descend on 'quiet Jakarta' over Idul Fitri
Photographers ventured into downtown Jakarta over Idul Fitri to capture the unique tranquility that descends over the capital just once a year.
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Two students pose on June 5 in downtown Jakarta in a '#JakartaSepi' photograph. The pair pretended to weep while watching a Korean drama on a laptop. (JP/Theresia Kartika)
T
he once-a-year phenomenon of Jakarta's empty streets during Idul Fitri (Lebaran) has become a popular subject among photographers of all types, from professionals to amateurs and to ordinary enthusiasts.
Many visitors have been taking to the tranquility of Jl. MH Thamrin in the Central Jakarta business district to snap daring and quirky pictures, creating fresh images in keeping with last year’s Lebaran trend on Instagram, #JakartaSepi (quiet Jakarta).
Kristian Tandjung, a 24-year-old product designer and part-time photographer from Surabaya, East Java, planned a personal holiday project with two friends a week before Lebaran.
“Basically, we want to capture the moment since we only have an opportunity like this in Jakarta once a year, when Jakarta is so ‘peaceful,’ that we can do many activities on the road," Kristian told The Jakarta Post on [day/date]. "So we got our models to do things like watching movies, laying down or even brushing their teeth [in the street].”
Eric, 24, from Malang, East Java, who joined Kristian’s project, told of how they came up with the idea of capturing the casual atmosphere downtown on the first day of Lebaran.
“Initially, Kristian and I had this idea to create Instagrammable pictures during Lebaran [of] the quiet roads, we created an Instagram group, also [asked] models to join us, and that’s how our plan started,” Eric said about the photography project, which started at 6:30 a.m. on June 5.
