Return to the river: Photographing a world away from modern civilisation in Indonesia
Communities go about their everyday routines, captured in a series of beautiful images
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Your support makes all the difference.Photographer Rarindra Prakarsa has been capturing the people of West Java, a province of Indonesia, since 2007.
The rural community live worlds away from modern civilisation, where children are stuck behind smartphones. He said: “Their life is simple. Kids go play and study. Mums go washing by the river, while men mostly do their work in paddy field, some other selling fruits, and some other collecting sands from the river for building material.
“Smartphones have encouraged children to be more passive and they end up doing more indoor activities.
“I still remember when I first came to the river eight years ago, I found kids swimming and jumping and washing their bicycles there.
“But now there are fewer and fewer kids. What I love now is vast rubber tree fields where locals and kids always hang out and play.
“It’s a very simple and peaceful place and the people are also nice and very welcoming.
Rarindra, from Jakarta, has been a photographer for 25 years. Speaking about the time he has spent shooting in the area, he said: “I’d see generations of children but, a few years after I take pictures of them, they are no longer children. They become teenagers and some even work.
“The key to get these pictures of kids is lighting. You need to come at the right time where the sun has just come up early morning. I always come even before the sun rises.
“The way we see the light and direction of light is the most important aspect to get cinematic look.
“I love rural life. I love culture and historical places. I love to meet different people and see how they live.”
SWNS
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