President Joko Widodo in Monocle No. 156, September 2022

It’s been a while since I photographed for Monocle. Teaming up with James Chambers, I traveled to Labuan Bajo (the so-called new Bali) in order to join Indonesian President Joko Widodo on his offical trip last July. James would have an exclusive interview with the president, talking about his on-going second term and also his legacies once he stepped down from the office in two years time.

This was my forth time meeting and photographing the president. To my surprise, the protocols were much more strict than ever (because of the on-going pandemic and possibly for the recent happening with Shinzo Abe in Japan). Apart from the intimate time spent onboard the phinisi schooner, it was very difficult to get close to the president. Glad that the images somehow turned out quite well. Below are the publication in Monocle No.156, September 2022.

Writer: James Chambers
Photo Editor: Matthew Beaman

On the President's Trail for Bloomberg News

It came as a suprise when I was given a rare access to follow and photograph Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, to accompany an exclusive interview led by John Micklethwait for Bloomberg News last October. During one full day, I followed him around the city of Surakarta, Central Java (his hometown) and ended with a five minutes portrait session in a makeshift studio that I set at airport's VIP room.

I feel so lucky that I happened to photograph him during two decisive times. The first was five years ago, shortly before he was running for presidency. And this one, shortly ahead of his second inaugration.