The Cost of Indonesia Food Estate Program on The Washington Post, January 2024

Recent photo and video work for The Washington Post on The Cost of Indonesia Food Estate Program

Story Excerpt:
Indonesia has been clearing tens of thousands of acres of densely vegetated peatland for farming, releasing massive amounts of carbon that had been sequestered below for centuries and destroying one of the Earth’s most effective means of storing greenhouse gases.

The country is home to as much as half of the planet’s tropical peatland, a unique ecosystem that scientists say is vital to averting the worst results of climate change. Government leaders have made halting efforts to protect peatlands over the last two decades, but three years ago, when the pandemic disrupted food supply chains, officials launched an ambitious land-clearance operation in a push to expand the cultivation of crops and cut Indonesia’s reliance on expensive imports.

Read the story by Rebecca Tan with additional reporting by Dera Sijabat here

Farwiza Farhan on Time Magazine October 2022 Cover

It’s undeniable that the climate change (or crisis probably a more proper term) has put great challenges for us human being all over the world. It’s not the future, but it’s already happening. One of the thing that contributes to the worsening of the crisis is the loss of forest cover. In Indonesia, it’s happening at an alarming rate (still).

It’s for the exact same reason why Farwiza Farhan’s effort with Haka is increasingly becoming important than ever. Sumatra, the sixth biggest island in the world, is among our planet’s last bastion of rainforest. Its lush jungle is home to various protected species like Sumatran tigers, orang-utans, elephants, to name a few. There’s a reason why people call it as the ‘lung of the world’.

Farwiza and her organization, which collaborate with local communities, focus on the Leuser Ecosystem in the Indonesian province of Aceh, one of the most important part of Sumatran rainforest. They work through policy advocacy, raising awareness, and strengthening community involvement and participation.

A little over a month ago, I was contacted by Time photo editor Whitney Matewe to photograph Farwiza as part of their 100 Next issue. I was a little nervous since the timeframe was quite tight and I was traveling for another assignment at that time. After a few discussion via email, Whitney came up with the concept of the ‘rising sun’ as a metaphor for what Farwiza is doing. We then decided to use a massive piece of colored fabric as props in order to depict the idea in a subtle way. For the location, we did the session at Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Garden), located around 40 km south of Jakarta. The session ran very smoothly (thanks to all the crew for sure). And I need to credit Farwiza too. She is such an amazing and relaxing person to work with.

Above is the final result as published on the cover the magazine. It’s scheduled to be hitting the newsstand by next week. What an honor to be able to contribute, even how small it is, to Farwiza’s effort.

And read the feature written by the one and only Jane Goodall here.

Photographer: Muhammad Fadli
Photo Editor: Whitney Matewe
Producer: Atikah Zata
First Assistant: Atet Pramadia
Second Assistant: Zulkifli
Video Team: Brahmma Putra & Majesty Benaya (Utuh Studio)

Indonesian Speed Climbers on Spheres Issue 9, 2022

I had a pleasure of photographing the Indonesians speed climbing world record duo Kiromal Katibin and Veddriq Leonardo last June for Spheres Magazine. The final result is an eight pages feature on the magazine, issue 9, September 2022.

Writer: Fadia Alaidrus

Indonesia Covid-19 in National Geographic Year in Pictures 2021

Three photographs from my Covid-19 coverages in Indonesia become parts of National Geographic Year in Pictures 2021 (January 2022 issue). See the whole series of photographs from various photographers here.

Thanks to Maura Friedman.

Muhammad Fadli, Documentary and Portrait Photographer.
Jakarta, Indonesia.

Bye Bye Plastic Bags in Credit Suisse Bulletin

Last year in September, Bulletin (a magazine by Credit Suisse) assigned me to travel to Bali in order to photograph the two sisters behind Bye Bye Plastic Bags: Melati Wijsen and Isabel Wijsen. The two sisters are known for their efforts to reduce plastic consumption in Bali. Here’s the opening spread from the feature as published in the January 2020 issue of the magazine.

The Banda Journal in One World November 2019

Some images from The Banda Journal is published in November 2019 issue of One World. Really happy that images from Banda Eli also included in the final publications in the magazine. Banda Eli is a small village at the eastern side of Kei Besar island. This is where the descendants of the original Bandanese who escaped Dutch atrocities in 1621 still live until these days.

Meanwhile, a dedicated book for this project, designed by Jordan Marzuki, is currently at the finishing stage. If all is going well, it will be published by the first quater of 2020. Can’t wait!

Exploring Malang, East Java for Singapore Airlines' Silverkris

Last May I was commissioned by Silverkris, Singapore Airlines’ inflight magazine to photograph a travel feature about Malang East, Java. It is published in July issue of the publication.

Free e-photobook: Return to Aceh

This week marks the tenth years anniversary of the massive Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. So I did my best by compiling the photographs that I took on two recent trips to Aceh, the region which hit the worst by the tsunami (more than 130,000 recorded death), into an e-photobook. Looking at the scale of the disaster, I feel the urge to tell the story of how everything goes there nowadays. And the good thing about this e-photobook it is free. You can get it by clicking the cover page image below or later if you like, you can download it as PDF as well. 

Dedicated for the people of Aceh.