Photography Book Exhibit Displays Works From Indonesia, Germany and Japan
Jakarta. Images from Indonesia, Germany and Japan, which were published in more than 200 photography books, are currently on display as part of an exhibition at the Goethe-Institut in South Jakarta.
Books from each country in the exhibition are curated by different people. Included are some of the best photography books from Indonesia, curated by an independent jury after an open-call for books focused on the archipelago.
A panel of judges from the annual Deutsches Fotobuchpreis 2016 competition, curated photography books from Germany, while the Japan Foundation has also contributed a selection of inspirational photography books from that country.
The photography books in the exhibit are remarkable presentations of their countries of origin, as well as the creativity of the photographers. Visitors get a distinct feel for each country's aesthetics and values as they turn the pages and begin to admire the carefully selected works.
"A collection of books can tell and show something about a country," Christel Mahnke of the Goethe-Institut said during the exhibition's opening night on Tuesday (01/11).
Indonesian photographer Romi Perbawa offers a meticulous documentation and an appropriate example of how photography books can be a tool of communication across different cultures in his "The Riders of Destiny." Photographs of child racers in Sumbawa Island, West Nusa Tenggara, feature a distinct glimpse into life on the island and a story that may not be familiar to people elsewhere.
Published by Afterhours Books, the book gives varying perspectives on the creation of ideas, place-setting and the overall production process of photography books.
Markus Schaden, an expert in photography books from the Photobook Museum in Cologne, Germany, said the gap between digital and analog is a bit blurred in photography.
"It's because these two mediums are able to deliver a photograph's message in the same way," he said.
Schaden will be speaking at a discussion on photography books as a visual culture on Saturday. This is part of a series of discussion and workshops that were organized in conjunction with the exhibit.
Schaden, Bobby Haryanto and Andi Ari Setiadi are mentors in the workshop for photographers looking to publish their own books.
The Photobook Exhibition 2016 will continue to Surabaya, East Java, in December and on to the Goethe-Institut Bandung in West Java early next year.
The exhibition, which ends on Nov. 13, is open to the public. For more information, visit www.goethe.de/indonesia.
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