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Jakarta urban kampung photographer captures own 'tribe' throughout the years
The Narasi Tumbuh photograph exhibition shows slice-of-life photographs of Jakarta's urban kampungs by Tubagus Rachmat, himself an urban kampung resident.
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One of Tubagus Rachmat's pictures at the Narasi Tumbuh exhibition. His caption reads: Cramped in a limited space, but everyone gets a hat, all get party favors and there's an entertaining clown. This is an alternative way for a resident to celebrate their child's birthday, not at a mall or a fast food chain restaurant. (Courtesy of Tubagus Rachmat/-)
D
espite their crucial role of providing housing for lower income Jakartans, urban kampungs are not always represented beautifully in photographs. Instead, kampungs are often stigmatized with pictures of squalid housing.
The narrative that kampungs are dirty, crowded and poor is the one that the Narasi Tumbuh photo exhibition seeks to challenge, showcasing 53 photographs from 2014 to 2019 taken by Tubagus Rachmat, who not only took the photos but also experienced them as a member of Jakarta’s urban poor.
The exhibition, which runs from June 26 until July 9 at the Rujak Center of Urban Studies in Ciking, Central Jakarta, is part of the Jakarta International Photo Festival (JIPFest).
Read also: First-ever JIPFest captures struggle for identity
The first image visitors see when stepping into the exhibition area is a photograph of children attending a birthday celebration in a crowded alley in the Muara Baru area of Penjaringan, North Jakarta.
To curator Yoppy Pieter, the photograph stands out for showcasing the kampung archetype as an urban environment.
“We can see that it is an environment of regeneration. The children in the photo in will be city residents in the future,” Yoppy told The Jakarta Post.
