Google's Local Guide Rolling On: Sri Lestari

Last August, I got a chance to produce a short documentary for Google's Local Guide Rolling On, a series which focuses on how people with disabilities navigate the city they are living in. The short film features Sri Lestari, a disability rights activist living in Solodiran, Klaten, Central Java. In the production, I worked with Giri Prasetyo, a really good friend of mine who happened to be a great cinematographer and director. Apart from being the producer, I also capture the scene as the second cameraman. Sound was amazingly handled by Mirwan Arfah, a native of Yogyakarta.

Sri Lestari in her parents house © Muhammad Fadli

The production days were pretty straightforward with one shooting day reserved to capture Sri's daily activities, and another day for B-roll.

Watch the finished documentary below.

Client: GOOGLE Inc
Producer: Muhammad Fadli
Director of Photography and 1st Cameraman: Giri Prasetyo
2nd Cameraman: Muhammad Fadli
Sound: Mirwan Arfah

Museum MACAN's Aaron Seeto for Mabuhay

Commissioned by Mabuhay, the inflight magazine of Philippine Airlines, I made portrait of Aaron Seeto, the director of Museum MACAN (Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara).  

Museum MACAN is the first institution of its kind in Indonesia which provides significant and growing collection of modern and contemporary art from Indonesia and around the world toward the public. The Museum has an active program of exhibitions and events in a 4,000 square meter facility including onsite education and conservation spaces.

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Christoph Schulz's Portrait for NEON

I made portrait of Christoph Schulz for Neon at the beginning of last October. The image was published on November issue of the magazine. 

Christoph, who founded Care Elite, is a promoter of greener life and plastic-free products. When I met him for the portrait session at the beach in Lombok, he was just finished initiating a beach cleaning excursion involving local population and tourists alike.

Visit his website to know him more.

Client: NEON Magazin
Assigning Editor: Frauke Schnoor

Indonesian Hajj Scam Reportage for The Wall Street Journal

Recent work for The Wall Street Journal on First Travel scam, one of the biggest frauds in Indonesia’s history: $63 millions from nearly 60,000 victims.

Asmana, the streetside noodle seller portrayed on the cover, saved her earnings to pay a trip to Mecca. The agency took her money without booking her trip. 

Portrait of Asmanah and her husband in their rented boarding house.

Written by Anita Rachman.

Read the full story and see more photographs here.

Refugee Crisis in the Balkans on Marie Claire Indonesia, January 2016

Photographs from my detour around Croatia and Serbia to cover the European refugee crisis in the Balkans are published by Marie Claire Indonesia, January 2016 edition. With an insightful write-ups by Nina Hidayat.

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.

Taiwan Beyond Taipei: Taichung

Sometimes, you just have to arrive back in a place to see what you're missing. Last June, I visited Taichung, the third largest city in Taiwan, assigned by Destinasian Indonesia. I have been to Taiwan two years ago exploring the area around Taipei for a different magazine. But I had no interest (and time) to go beyond that. And then Taichung came as a pleasant surprise. 

Let's make it really short, here are some photographs from the trip.

An eccentric biker in Taichung.

Taichung's food feast.

Lanshu Chen, the Asia's Best Female Chef 2014.

Taichung city view from a skyscraper.

Taichung's youth.

Xaio long bao served in a roadside restaurant.

Liz Silva enjoying beef satay.

This is how the publication turned out in Destinasian Indonesia September-October 2014 Issue.

DestinAsian Indonesia May - June 2013

Few days back, I just realized that it has been more than a year since my last post. Time passed so quick and that's terrible for this blog, extraordinarily terrible. For now at least, no second glance, I'm up for blogging again. Will I post regularly? Honestly, I have no idea yet. But will see if this new blog outlook will bring something good. So, back in March, I was shooting around Magelang, Central Java, for a main travel feature in the May-June edition of DestinAsian Indonesia, the second edition of the magazine. I've been in Magelang before, but that was long time ago. And to my surprise, just like Tony Wheeler who've been always ignored this city in his Indonesia edition of Lonely Planet, I've actually missed many charms about this place, literally.

The trip itself took me to Oei Hong Djien Museum, Selogriyo (the Ubud of Central Java), some less visited temples (you'll meet no other curious tourists other than yourself, and there are more than 70 other temples around), and some great resorts (I didn't usually find any resort stay worth to be the highlight of my trip but who can resist the joy at Villa Borobudur).

The shooting conditions were great, and a lot of photo opportunities around. I just can't complain.

Well, here's the complete tearsheet and you can read the whole story here in Bahasa.