Resource Spotlight | “A History of Photography in Indonesia: From the Colonial Era to the Digital Age” by Brian C. Arnold

*17 August 1945*, Frans Mendur, silver gelatin print, 1945. Courtesy of Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia (National Library of the Republic of Indonesia).
This photograph is an essential part of Indonesian history and is the only known photographic document recording the moment that Sukarno first declared an independent Indonesia. Still under Japanese occupation, Franks had to hide the negative to prevent it from being destroyed, allegedly burying the film in his garden to keep it safe.

A History of Photography in Indonesia

From the Colonial Era to the Digital Age

by Brian C. Arnold

Published by Amsterdam University Press.

As a former colonized nation, Indonesia has a unique place in the history of photography. A History of Photography in Indonesia: From the Colonial Era to the Digital Age looks at the development of photography from the beginning and traces its uses in Indonesia from its invention to the present day. The Dutch colonial government first brought the medium to the East Indies in the 1840s and immediately recognized its potential in serving the colonial apparatus. As the country grew and changed, so too did the medium. Photography was not only an essential tool of colonialism, but it also became part of the movement for independence, a voice for reformasi, an agent for advocating democracy, and is now available to anyone with a phone. This book gathers essays by leading artists, scholars, and curators from around the world who have worked with photography in Indonesia and have traced the evolution of the medium from its inception to the present day, addressing the impact of photography on colonialism, independence, and democratization.

*Balinese Temple Guardian*, Brian Arnold, gum bichromate print, 12x17cm, 1992 (print 1994).
Photographer Brian Arnold first traveled to Indonesia in 1992 as part of a study abroad program. After completing an MFA in photography from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1998, he has since built a career in photography and an ongoing engagement with Indonesia.

*Mount Bromo, Tengger, Java,* Woodbury & Page, albumen print, 24.8 x 30 cm, date unknown. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (purchased 2007)

*Untitled (Studio portrait of a girl seated with grass and leaves as props)*, Kassian Céphas, albumen print, 22.1 x 16.3 cm, 1880. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (purchased 2007).

*Femmes Javanaise,* Isidore van Kinsbergen, albumen print, 18.6 x 13.1 cam, 1862-1865, /courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (purchased 2007).
Originally an actor from Belgium, Isidore van Kinsbergan became a prolific and highly regarded photographer in the Dutch East Indies.

*Goesti Bagoes met vrouw en Dochter (Gusti Bagus with wife and daughter)*, Thilly Weissenborn, silver gelatin print mounted on card, 22.8 x 17.6 cm (image, c. 1913. Courtesy of Gael Newton and the National Gallery of Singapore.

*Hamengkubuwono VI, Sultan of Yogyakarta,* Woodbury & Page (photo by Walter Woodbury), half plate ambrotype, gilt highlights, applied color, in original frame, c. 1858, Lee Kip Lin collection, Singapore. Courtesy of Gael Newton.

*Consort of Hamengkubuwono VI,* Woodbury & Page (photo by Walter Woodbury), half plate ambrotype, gilt highlights, applied color, in original frame, c. 1858, Lee Kip Lin collection, Singapore. Courtesy of Gael Newton.

*Man climbing the front entrance to Borobudur,* Kassian Céphas, albumen print, 13.7 x 9.8 cm., c. 1885. Courtesy of Gael Newton and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (purchased 2007).
Kassian Céphas is the first photographer of Javanese descent and produced a remarkable body of work documenting the royal court of Yogyakarta as well as landscapes and monuments across Central Java.

*Buginese. Portraits of a young Buginese noblewoman with child; Man holing alosu (rattle of bissu) at Sergeri*, Claire Holt, 3 gelatin silver prints mounted on album page 22x 19.5 cam or smaller (each print), 1938. Courtesy of Jerome Dance Division, The New York Public Library.
Claire Holt is the author of the widely acclaimed *Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change* (Cornell University Press, 1967). With a background in both dance and the visual arts, photography was an essential part of Holt’s research practice.

*Untitled (Indonesia, 1947),* Cas Oorthuys, silver gelatin print, 1947. Courtesy of the Nederlands Foto Museum.
Of a progressive political nature, in 1947 Dutch photographer Cas Oorthuys photographed *Een staat in wording (A State in the Making)*, and was an early Dutch voice advocated from an independent Indonesia.

*Untitled (Student photograph of reformasi demonstration)*, photographer unknown, 1998. Courtesy of Karen Strassler.
Since the reformasi demonstrations that led to the fall of Soeharto, photography has been a major political tool in Indonesia.

*Untitled (Jokowi as puppet)*, photographer unknown. Courtesy of Karen Strassler.
Since the reformasi demonstrations that led to the fall of Soeharto, photography has been a major political tool in Indonesia.

From the series *Soulscape Road*, Oscar Motuloh, silver gelatin print, 2009. Courtesy of Oscar Motuloh.
Founder of the Galeri Foto Jurnalistik Antara (GFJA), Oscar Motuloh has been a pivotal figure in Indonesian photography for decades. His series *Soulscape Road* documents the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia.

*Writing in the Rain* (Video still), FX Harsono, single channel video, 6’02”, 2011. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia and FX Harsono.
Like the world over, the development of digital media changed the role of photography across Indonesia. Pioneering artists like FX Harsono, Krisna Murti, and Mella Jaarsma were quick to see the possibilities of the new media and helped legitimize its use for artists across the archipelago.

*Profile Portraits of MES 56 Members,* Yudha Kusuma Putera, 2016. From left to right: Afil Wijaya, Akiq AW, Anang Saptoto, Andri Williams, Angki Purbandono, Daniel Satyagraha, Dito Yuwono, Ediwn Roseno, Fajar Ryanto, Gatari S. Kusuma, Jim Allen Abel, Nunung Prasetyo, Eri Rama, Rangga Purbaya, Wimo Ambala Bayang, Wok the Rock, Yudha Kusuma Putera (note: configuration of the collective’s members has changed since this picture was made).

*Ugo Untoro,* from the series *Second Pose,* Ruang MES 56, 2008, Courtesy of Wimo Ambala Bayang and MES 56.
Founded by some of the first photographers to graduate from ISI Yogyakarta, MES 56 has proven to be an extremely influential collective of artists working with photography and new media, and helped legitimize photography as a fine art practice in Indonesia.

*Sanikem (1926, Semanu, Yogyakarta),* from the series *Comfort Women*, Jan Banning, Chromogenic print 27 x20 cm, 2010. Courtesy of Jan Banning and Fontana Gallery.
Indonesia continues to be a place that captures the imaginations of foreign photographers, long after European occupation, with many developing important and insightful bodies of work. Dutch photographer Jan Banning and Rosa Verhoeve both provide beautiful examples. Banning’s work, *Comfort Women*, offers portraits of women forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of the nation during World War II. Verhoeve’s work is much more personal; kopi susu literally means coffee with milk but is also slang for someone born of mixed European and Indonesian descent. Verhoeve was such a person, and her book *Kopi Susu* documents her attempt to connect with her Indonesian heritage.

From the series *Kopi Susu*, Rosa Verhoeve, dates unknown. Courtesy of Jan Banning and the estate of Rosa Verhoeve.
Indonesia continues to be a place that captures the imaginations of foreign photographers, long after European occupation, with many developing important and insightful bodies of work. Dutch photographer Jan Banning and Rosa Verhoeve both provide beautiful examples. Banning’s work, *Comfort Women*, offers portraits of women forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of the nation during World War II. Verhoeve’s work is much more personal; *kopi susu* literally means coffee with milk but is also slang for someone born of mixed European and Indonesian descent. Verhoeve was such a person, and her book *Kopi Susu* documents her attempt to connect with her Indonesian heritage.

From the series *Afterimage*, Henrycus Napit Sunargo, silver gelatin print, 2002-2010. Courtesy of Henrycus Napit Sunargo.
Home to the Institute of Technology, Bandung has long been an intellectual and creative center of Indonesia. The city has inspired many important contemporary photographers, like Henrycus, who used photography to explore himself and his family.

*Untitled (Jakarta)*, Chris Tuarissa, digital photograph, 2017. Courtesy of Chris Tuarissa.
Digital and social media have completely changed how we interact with photography. Platforms like Instagram have also provided entirely new outlets for photographers and artists to share their work. Chris Tuarissa was an early advocate for digital and social media and has developed a unique body of work exploring the streets of Jakarta.

*Grandmother with Family Portraits, from the series Kerabat/Relatives, Tino Djumini, silver gelatin print, 50 x60 cm, 2006. Courtesy of Tino Djumini.*
Photography plays an essential and complicated role in shaping and informing our identities. Photographer Tino Djumini provides an excellent example of this idea, and in a way unique to Indonesia. Born in Java but adopted and raised in the Netherlands. After completing his education, Tino returned to Indonesia to explore a sense of self he never found in the Netherlands. The pictures in *Kerabat/Relatives* document his exploration into his Indonesian identity by photographing families he met around the island.

Brian C. Arnold

Brian C. Arnold received an undergraduate degree in English and Ethnomusicology from the Colorado College in 1993 and an MFA in photography from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1998.

He has taught and lectured on photography at a number of institutions around the world, including the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, the Beijing Film Academy, the University of Indonesia, Pasundan University, the Institute of Technology in Bandung, Santa Reparata International School of Art, the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, and the National Gallery of Australia.

Brian has exhibited his work internationally, and his photographs are included as part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Denver Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art in Australia, the Eastman Museum of Photography, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Light Work.

He is the author of the books Alternative Photographic Processes: Technique, History, and Creative Practice (2017) and Identity Crisis: Reflections on Public and Private Life in Contemporary Javanese Photography (2017). Brian has also self-published a number of small-edition artist books and zines. He is currently doing Indonesian language work for the Cornell University library.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. Art of the Ancestors does not receive a commission should any of our readers purchase the aforementioned book. Art of the Ancestors is a strictly non-commercial educational platform and has no vested interest in the professional activities of the author listed above.