Bandung Street Documentary #2: Pedicab Drivers

This is my second post of Bandung Street Documentary series.

I took this photo of pedicab drivers waiting for passangers in front of Rancaekek commuter train station last week. Rancaekek is a small suburban town about 14 kilometers east of Bandung.

"Becak," the word for pedicab in Indonesian, used to be found in many parts of Bandung. By the city's regulation, now it can only operate in certain parts of the city and suburban areas.

Pedicab has many variants and different names in different parts of the world. It is called "becak" in Indonesia, "traysikad" in the Philippines, "beca" or "trishaw" in Malaysia and Singapore, "cyclo" in Vietnam and Cambodia, and "rickshaw" in the subcontinent Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh).

Idul Fitri Holiday Shopping in Bandung

I am afraid today's photos are not of good quality (the first one is obviously a bit shaky), but I have to keep and and post them here for the sake of reporting.

As I said yesterday, Moslems are going to celebrate Idul Firti soon. And like at Christmas or any other religious holidays, such an occasion usually means shopping.

Unlike in the Middle East or any other Moslem or Moslem-dominated countries, Idul Fitri in Indonesia and southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore in general are considered to be a bigger and more festive holiday than Idul Adha (the other major Moslem holiday, which is considered a bigger holiday in the Middle East).

There are a lot of fascinating traditions in this area to celebrate Idul Fitri. One of these traditions is extended-family gathering. Kins from near and far would travel long distances just to get together at this time of the year. This tradition is called "mudik" or "pulang kampung" in Indonesia ("balik kampong" in Malaysia), which means more or less "returning home". It is customary for those who live in the cities to go back to the villages or smaller towns where they come from with "oleh-oleh" (gifts) for their extended families and kins. Families and friends would ask forgiveness for any intentional or unintentional trespasses and offeses they might have committed in the past year, and ties of "silaturahim" (compassion) are restored and strenghtened again.

It is also customary for them to dress their best (which usually means new clothes for everyone) and serve the most special foods for the occasion. With all these traditions, it is no wonder that shopping is an important part of the tradition. Shops will be packed with shoppers and shops and businesses, on the other hand, will offer great discounts to attract more customers. (This may sound familiar to those of you who celebrate Christmas. Yes, they are similar as far as the festive mood and shopping frenzy go.)

The shopping and traveling "frenzy" of course put a lot of constraints in logistics. Prices of some basic commodities (and inflation) would usually go up (if only slightly) as businesses are going briskier, roads are packed with travellers/holiday-makers as are trains, commercial flights, and ships.



I took today's photographs at Istana Plaza Shopping Mall, Bandung, a couple of days ago. The top photo is of things offered for sale at the hall of this mall. The bottom photo is of a large camel dolls (?) near the entrance. Somehow, camel - being an animal of the Middle East - is considered as a mascot for the holiday in this mall. Kids love them and, as you can see in the photo, would want a ride on them.

Iftar at Istana Plaza Shopping Mall Bandung

In about three days' time, Moslems all over the world are going to celebrate Iedul Fitri, one of the two major Moslem holidays. Prior to Iedul Fitri, Moslems have to observe a whole month of fasting, called Ramadan (after the name of the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar in which this observance has to be performed).

During Ramadan, Moslems fast, i.e. refrain from eating and drinking anything from true dawn until sunset. Before performing the fast, Moslems are encouraged (some say obliged) to have a very early breakfast called suhur/sahur, and upon sunset (maghrib), they break the fast with a meal called iftar. Apart from refraining from eating and drinking, the Ramadan fasting is also a month of good deeds, benevolence, and patience.

For Moslems, the fasting month of Ramadan is considered as a spiritual training camp where they learn patience, sacrifice, and humility to purify their spiritual life. In relation to this, Iedul Fitri is considered as the day of victory against their own evils and impurity.

I took the above photo at iftar time today at Istana Plaza Shopping Mall's food court, Bandung. Iftar time is usually a busy time for restaurants and diners as many Moslems who are out and about go to these places to have their iftar. Note, however, that most Moslem families in Indonesia prefer to have their iftar at home where the homemakers usually prepare special foods for it.

Bandung Street Documentary #1: Mother and Child

I have quite a number of posts in this blog which qualify for street photography. Those of you who followed Bandung Daily Photo regularly may well remember my posts about street vendors, umbrella taxi kids, street musicians, etc. All of these posts were meant to give you a more complete picture of Bandung, not only as a city or a place on the map, but also as a living community of people whose struggles, emotions, and way of living are as important as, if not more important than, the place itself. I intend to make Bandung Daily Photo a unique and authoritative visual (photography) reference about Bandung and its people.

As part of that commitment, and to fulfill the claim that this particular Bandung Daily Photo is a visual journal of Bandung and its vicinities, today I begin this new series which I call Bandung Street Documentary. This series is in addition to the already existing City of People series which I began earlier.

Bandung Daily Photo will continue posting photographs and stories about other things that are informative and worth publishing and sharing with the world in the hope that more and more readers will know Bandung better. As an Indonesian proverb says, "tak kenal maka tak sayang" (those who don't know, don't love), I hope my photographs and stories here will bring more understanding, and therefore love, to this city.

As the name indicates, the emphasis of Bandung Street Documentary series is on the documentary value of the photographs and the place in which the photographs are taken, i.e. the streets.

A bit of background about documentary photography

What is documentary photography?
According to several authoritative sources I can get, documentary photography is a type of photojournalism of which the objectives are to produce truthful (objective) and candid visual representation of a particular subject, especially those of people, through the perspective of the photographer.

Documentary photography, according to the art critic Elizabeth McCausland, "has no room for exhibitionism or opportunism or exploitation in the equipment of the documentary photographer. His purpose must be clear and unified, and his mood simple and modest. Montage of his personality over his subject will only defeat the serious aims of documentary photography."

Pursuant to the above definitions of documentary photography, therefore, this series will not emphasize on the photo forms but on the photo's documentary value and content.