While I was last in Surabaya, a diverse group of kids who make a living on the streets of Indonesia’s second biggest city began a project to photograph their surroundings and each other. Not only were they very excited to be able to stand on the other side of the lens for a change—they are routinely the objects of news and tourist photographs—they quickly developed an extraordinary body of work that showed how creative they could be if given the chance. Soon they were offered the opportunity to show some of their photographs at the local Starbucks by a sympathetic manager. The juxtaposition of such beautiful images from their hardscrabble lives with the exclusive surroundings of the fanciest cafe in the city, where a latte costs four times the minimum wage for a whole day, made a bit of a splash, and even resulted in some sales. Later, an even larger exhibit of their photographs was hung in Surabaya’s premier gallery, the French embassy and cultural center. You can view images from the show (called 'saling memotret,' or ‘picture you picture me’) by clicking the link at the top of the page.


This exhibit represents the work of more than 20 kids ranging in age from 9 to 19; the majority of them are around 12 years old. (Many more kids, some as young as 5, participated in the project by taking photographs at one time or another, and there are scores more excellent images that have yet to be exhibited.) The photographers and their friends selected which images to hang in the show, and together selected titles as well, some of them quite clever. For example, the image called ‘mata uang’ is a pun that means both ‘currency’ and ‘money eyes’, and is also a commentary on greed and discrimination. 
 

picture you picture me

saling memotret