Jakarta urban kampung photographer captures own 'tribe' throughout the years

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil
The Jakarta Post

PREMIUM

Jakarta / Mon, July 8, 2019 / 10:36 am

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/-)

Despite 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...

Topics :

kampung jakarta photo-exhibition JIPFest-2019 JIPFest Tubagus-Rachmat

TheJakartaPost