“I wanted to make every single portrait a representation of what they feel, how they fight the obstacles in this difficult time, and how they strengthen their solidarity.” — Yoppy Pieter
Yoppy Pieter | Image courtesy of the artist
Yoppy Pieter (b.1984, Jakarta, Indonesia) is a photographer and a visual storyteller, telling a diverse range of stories that explore identity, religion, and social culture. Aiming to encourage and promote the use of photography as a creative tool in the critiquing of the self, society, and the relationships that occur between the two, Pieter co-created the educational platform Arkademy in 2018. He also created the Heterogenic Instagram platform, which celebrates the diversity and richness of Indonesian visual culture and serves as a forum for discussion and idea-sharing among Indonesian photographers.
Yoppy Pieter, his project Over The Black Rainbow in 2016 | Image courtesy of the artist
Through a PannaFoto Institute workshop, Pieter became interested in photography. After resigned as an advertising coordinator, he started his photography career since 2013. In 2016, he published a book titled Saujana Sumpu. In 2017, Pieter was selected for the South-East Asia & Oceania 6×6 Global Talent Program. In 2019, he was the first Indonesian to receive the Joop Swart Masterclass by World Press Photo Foundation. Pieter’s photography works have been exhibited at the Jakarta Photo Summit #3 (2014), Jakarta Biennale (2015), Photography for Tolerance and Diversity (2017), Mt Rokko International Photo Festival (2018), and SPECTROSYNTHESIS II exhibition (2019).
Empathy plays a crucial role in photography
Pieter is a self-taught photographer. Before learning documentary photography on PannaFoto, he had a great influence by approaching photos that are illustrations of articles every day when he was working in magazines for 7 years as an advertising coordinator. At the age of 27, he decided to resign and pursue a career as a freelance photographer, involving in the world of visual storytelling education.
Yoppy Pieter, his project Cure in 2015 | Image courtesy of the artist
Pieter thought that photography can be “a dangerous medium considering that our workspace is only as big as the frames we produce”, making society to believe photography is the absolute truth that information without being eliminated by photographers. “The ability to communicate with the subject is key, and even our empathy as photographers and humans plays a big role. To reach an empathetic level, of course we as photographers have conducted a series of research to strengthen our arguments and knowledge of what we want to tell.”
Interested in identity-related issues that are happening in society
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Pieter developed a story about the transwomen community in Indonesia facing discrimination. “We all agree that Covid-19 has affected everyone, but the story turned out differently for invisible individuals who have experienced discrimination long before the pandemic, such as the trans woman community.” Supported by the Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists from the National Geographic Society, his project “Trans Woman: Between Colour and Voice” won the Wellcome Photography Prize 2021.
Yoppy Pieter, Darni’s ID Card, 2021 | Image courtesy of the artist and Sunpride Foundation
“Most trans women leave their home when they are teenagers due to domestic conflicts over their identity. They leave their family without having official documents and proper education…” There are estimated 70% of trans women in Jarkarta holding invalid ID cards, which are needed to get access to government services as citizens with civil rights, includingeducation, opportunity to work in the formal economy, and access to health care. Darni is one of the stories in the project, holding her expired ID card printed her old name of Darno.
Yoppy Pieter, his project Trans Woman: Between Colour and Voice in 2021 | Image courtesy of the artist
Through this project, Pieter traveled to several cities, including Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang Selatan, and Yogyakarta, to record their success stories despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the community’s role in easing various aspects of life, and how they facilitate trans women acquire crucial documents when Indonesia government opens access to the National Identity Card in 2021. On the other hand, the project is representation of how they strengthen their relationship within their communities as a representation of family, home, and hope for resilience in the face of adversity.