Stefano Romano, Capturing the Anomaly of Jakarta

Diana and Songa
Plumpang
Jakarta – 26 August, 2016

It was between July and August 2016 when, for the first time, I met Songa, a beautiful girl with a serious face in a school belonging to the “Yayasan Kebun Anggur”, a foundation of my dear friend Djoko Warsieno.

During my visit to Jakarta, he took me to visit the slums where his foundation taught poor children, to make a report. The main school was in Plumpang, a large slum in north of Jakarta.

After photographing the children and the school activity, I asked Songa to see her house and we went together. 

What I saw was among the strongest punches in the face that Jakarta has given me, and they have not been few.

After all, I ask exactly this, wherever I go: to be accompanied where people don't want to go and to be slapped in the eye, to remember my position in this land.

In front of me was a small wooden house completely folded in on itself, as if it were about to slide slowly onto its foundation.

 

First time I met Diana and Songa in their home 
Jakarta – 11 July 2016

Jakarta – 26 August, 2016

 

There lived her family, her mother Diana, her little brother and her father.

When I asked her how they could live in that condition, Diana replied that they had no choice – they paid for that house.

Since then I have tried to help them, moving all the knowledge I had in Jakarta. As if Songa's life was a matter of my conscience.

It was a case that for a long time rose to the fore of the media and politics (not surprisingly under the voting period). The fact is that, in the end, I was able to have their house renovated with a new brick house. A pin among hundreds of houses similar, or worse, to what was theirs.

But as I began to answer to those who insistently asked me for help, I am a photographer not an architect. Everyone does the work they have to do. This was only the demonstration that, if you want, things can be changed.

Then I am certainly not a political candidate in Jakarta. I am leaving as I came. What remains is the love and friendship of Diana and Songa all these years.

They are in my books, in my photographs, and when I can they come with me at events and book presentations.

 

Me and Diana
Sharing Session with Stefano Romano “Humanity and Photography”
Jakarta – 4 January, 2018

Therefore I am pleased to propose here a nice article that my dear friend Rieska wrote in 2016, about this story.

At the time it was posted on a site in Indonesia that has now closed – a prayer to Joseph Chan, R.I.P.

I was sorry to lose this article because with Rieska we have many ideas in common, especially about the true black and white soul of Jakarta.

 

And then I think it is always good to read this story, not so much for personal vanity, but for the inhabitants of Jakarta themselves, and for all those who stop before starting battles that look like David against Goliath.

If we don't try to start we will never know if we will get to the end.

Better to fail by trying to make your dreams come true, or those of others, rather than giving up resigned.

 

Songa 
Jakarta – 3 November, 2017

 

“There is one thing the photograph must contain,
the humanity of the moment.”
(Robert Frank)

Indonesia, especially Jakarta is a maze of life, in which all the pros and cons are living side by side, marching up in procession even embracing each other without being able to be separated just like a two-sided coin. 

If you succeed, you could live on incredible luxuries in that metropolitan. But, if you are unlucky then you fall into the marginal group, poor and exploited by collectors of unauthorized fees, disguised in governmental uniforms as well as civilian clothes, who could make a fake letter or certification and asks you to pay without clear proof of liability and all the negative legal consequences will be all your own.

Thus Jakarta, which is busy creating vertical skyscrapers with its arrogant and ruthless style. On the other hand, there are people who are trying to survive, also busy making horizontal labyrinth of alleys next to the skyscrapers. They are shadowing under those who dare to protect this strange practical in such unnatural way. It has happened for decades and Jakarta had become a double-faced city.

Stefano Romano, an Italian photographer who is married to Indonesian woman, saw anomalies Jakarta when he and his wife returned home in 2010. With his camera he captures the dynamics of Jakarta, a metropolitan city put together by pieces of kampung. For him, Jakarta is a city colored with miraculous phenomenon.

With his love for women and children, he began to documenting life in every corners of Jakarta, especially the smiles of the children who are always there, in the middle smelly gutter and alley full of trash. He was astonished by Jakartan women in the marginal area, who never complained even when they have to take care of children with droplets of sweats,

In 2014, he returned to the same ritual, take a photo of trying to documenting the life of Jakarta. He was amazed, the population of kampungs in Jakarta can survive even in the most inhumane conditions. They are still friendly to welcome people, warmly say hello, and often willing to be the object for his documentary hobby. 

His visit to Indonesia and his encounters with the variety of strong-minded people have made him determined to do something that can benefit them. His commitment is beginning to show results. Mizan, a book publisher in Bandung keen to publish his work in a book titled “Kampungku Indonesia” (Indonesia My Hometown), and that he had to return to Indonesia, this time for the purpose of dissemination and promotion of his new book.

His visit to Indonesia is certainly to be used to keep shooting and documenting. This time he started collaborating with media like the newspaper “Harian Pikiran Rakyat” that gave him the opportunity. He went with the editor Harry Surjana and photographing a maze of alleys behind Braga and the newspaper gave him a full-page space to present his work. He was also presented as a guess in a  Metro TV talk show in a prestigious segment Kick Andy.

Despite growing popular in the media, his outgoing and down to earth character remains, and he committed to make a visit with some NGOs who are working on nurturing children and marginalized families, such as the Yayasan Kebun Anggur, Yayasan Bu Grace and Iwung Foundation. Stefano interacted with them and did his photographing things.

 

Plumpang, Jakarta – 3 November 2017

He met a five-year-old girl named Songa, and her mother, Diana. Stefano asked if he could drop by and photographing the child's family life. Diana permit while giving an address in to Stefano. On July 11, 2016, Stefano came and took photos of Songa and her family.

After photographing he excused himself and said he would go back again just to stay in touch. Stefano did returned, on August 26 2016 and he again visited Songa and almost fainted because the house was nearly collapsed.

“I almost cried to see their house was about to collapse, and it is sadder to know that this happens because the home was too fragile and ofter flooded with dirty water and rubbish heaps, really sad and devastating,” he said.

He could not sleep at night thinking about Songa and her family, this poor family living in danger from the fragile house which could collapse anytime and kill them. He then took the initiative to call some friends in Jakarta journalist whom he knew personally and began to make news for the fight for Songa.

“I could choose to not give a damn and just walk away, but I would not. I had to do something,” he said.

Songa family said the cost needed to help renovate the house was about 80 million rupiah. Stefano moved fast, considering he also soon had to return to Italy. So, in collaboration with the mass media and fundraising websites, he launched a campaign to build a house for Songa, during the first three weeks they only able to gathered a little amount of money.

However, this movement got the attention of the local government. The Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaya Purmana,  sent North Jakarta mayor to make a visit and report to him directly.

It turns out the problem is not that simple, Songa’s house stands on the state owned land. Jakarta provincial government offered one solution, that means this family should move to Marunda Flat. But the solution was rejected by Songa father, Daniel, because it is too far away and they would lose their livelihood.

It’s a luck that this poor family have a banner of one of the biggest Indonesian party, PDIP, affixed in their home, as a divider between the living room and sleeping mats. Apparently Stefano photographs featuring the family with PDIP banner and logo attracted PDIP chairman Mewagati. So Megawati sent her cadres to see the family situation. They were lucky, the party willing to help the family to cover all the budget needs to renovate the home plus the cost for renting temporary place during the renovation project.

 

Plumpang, Jakarta – 26 August 2016

Renovation of home. 
Jakarta – 22 September 2016

The photographer become a hero, now everybody wanted him to visit their home, take the picture and published in the newspaper or mass media, hoping that miracles could happen also to them.

“I received hundreds and hundreds of messages on my Facebook account, telephone and WhatsApp asking me to visit them and take their picture. It’s crazy, they think I am a hero, but I am not,” he said.

Stefano Romano, as a photographer focus his photographs on the human side so as to move other people to want do something.

“There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment,” as the quote from the American photographer Robert Frank said, and this is what’s important in photography.

However, the pros and cons actually still hanging in the air. Songa’s family occupied a state-owned land and one day, they would soon be evicted from there. 

This social movement in this moment is a huge success, but also it could be a bad precedent because there is a dualism attitude, where this party should have supported government programs to clean the area from the illegal occupiers, but instead they provide financial support and even build houses and pay rent of these families during construction was carried out in the estimated time one to two months.

 

Diana and Songa. 
Jakarta – 3 November, 2017

Djoko and Diana in front of the new home. Jakarta – 3 November, 2017

One positive thing, Songa and her family could survive longer, but do not be surprised and shocked if someday the anomaly of Jakarta hit them again with a bitter situation, where they have to move for the legal and healthy environmental reason.

Yes, that Jakarta, a city with a dynamic and twists and turns of struggle, that we may learn that obeying the law, is one of the continuity of life sustained basis but still impossible to do.”

(Written by Rieska Wulandari, Indonesian freelancer Journalist based in Milan, on 10 March 2016_

 

Me and Diana when we met the first time after the renovation of the house. 
Jakarta, 22 September 2016

To read about me in the Blog of Rieska: Stefano Romano, Kontradiksi Jakarta Dalam Lensa Fotografer Italia 

 

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