Photographs & Words by Kurniadi Widodo

This just came yesterday:


It's a photobook containing the best journalistic photographs of Kompas from 1965 to 2007. The book was first released last Monday (Juli 16th) in Jakarta, and was also supposed to be released in 4 cities outside Jakarta (though in limited release of only 50 books in each city) including Jogja. When I first heard about this news in FN I knew I had to get myself a copy of it, I've always enjoyed the photographs from Kompas and a 300-page book containing only the best photographs from them seems like a good thing to have. Not to mention it's pretty exclusive with limited release.

After the release date I quickly searched for this photobook in large bookstores around Jogja yet until Thursday morning there wasn't a single book available anywhere. I became impatient so I went to the Kompas agency in Jogja in the afternoon. They told me the book hadn't arrived in Jogja yet, so I asked if I could somehow order it instead. They said they'd try to find out if it's possible and told me to leave my numbers. Only hours afterwards they contacted me and gave me the number of the Kompas book publisher in Jogja. I called them, and found out that the demand of the photobook in Jakarta alone had been so high that they decided not to release it anywhere else outside Jakarta. I was kinda disappointed, but I asked if I could order it from Jogja. I was so relieved when they said it's possible and gave me the number of the publisher in Jakarta. I quickly called and confirmed the book order. Friday afternoon I transfered the money and by Saturday (yesterday) afternoon the book was already in my hands. I'm pretty impressed by the service Kompas gave me, it was quick and simple (unlike most complicated Indonesian bureaucracy... heh), and the phone operators were all really nice and helpful.

The photobook itself is... amazing, to say the least. About 30 x 30 cm in size, 300 pages, hard cover, really nice paper... feels really exclusive. The photos aren't arranged chronologically, but rather according to themes with forewords by writer Sindhunata in each theme. There are 9 themes in all, ranging from childrens to terrorisms. Here are 2 samples of the photos inside:




I'm really glad I purchased this photobook. :)

And tomorrow I'll be going with some friends to visit another friend who's currently doing her student community service... in a place about 2 hour drive from Jogja. We still don't know exactly where the place is (planning to ask people on the way), so let's pray we won't get lost. :|