Tim & Candra – Photography

About the artist:

I am ANGRY!  Bloody ANGRY!  But I know being angry all the time won’t make things easier.  Living in the most populous Moslem country; Indonesia, makes it hard for me to be ME.  Too much religious and cultural taboos, restrictions, regulations and norms that I can not follow and relate to. 

Being an activist, bisexual & atheist is a perfect disaster recipe.  The option is whether you follow their rules and nobody bothers you, or to be yourself and you get fucked!  And I’m somewhere in between.  I’m not completely able to be myself yet.  This is similar for my best friend; Candra.  A trans person who fights everyday to be herself and to reach her dream to have Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS). 
I like to take pictures.  Since i’m really bad with gadgets, I’m using my phone camera to capture moments.  I don’t let my limitation in tools become an obstruction for my passion. 

Many thanks to friends around me who helped me out during this project.  Believe me, it’s not easy to find people that are willing to take naked pictures, providing a safe place for the photo shoot, and editing without being judgemental and offended.  Thanks! 

About the artwork:

In my series here, I’d like to share my feelings about my body (beauty standards & sexuality), things that have been trying to destroy me (religion) and my way to destroy it through artworks. 

The process is not that easy since I have to find empty spots, and friends who are willing to take naked pics of me to edit them without prejudice.  Not to mention the technical fun taking pics with a phone! 

I choose black, white, grey, and red to express the darkness, hopes, ambiguity, and power that are represented in each image, hoping you get what I mean.  🙂 Also on my part (Tim) I made some kind of story for each photo, hoping you will understand a bit of my journey. 

Click on the images to see them in large and to leave a comment! 

Shame My Name – Trans people change their name to one that they feel fits their identity.  For me, pronouncing my assigned name is like calling me by a slave name.  This also holds me back from having things and property because they will be named to my assigned name. 

Get Away – Prejudice and discrimination for transgender people works the same as racial discrimination.  I know I don’t have to compete with others, but you know, when you are trans, you have to work harder than cis-women.  And it will never be enough.