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nopefun · 4 years

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Interview #484: Asrul Dwi

q: Give a short introduction of yourself: a: My name is Asrul, based in Jakarta, Indonesia. I work for an independent news agency as a producer. Let me think about any interesting facts about me...when I was in elementary school, a friend of mine once shot me with a bird hunting gun, the one that you have to pump it up before shooting it. The bullet went into the skin next to my right eyebrow. I had to spend several hours in surgery for that and several days skipping school, thanks to him.

q: "A Stream Under The Table" deals with mental illness and its stigma. You have also described your process as a collaboration with the people in the images. How do you portray an invisible issue in the photographic medium? a: It was also a question for me, how to approach that project. Most of the images of mental health issues were pretty grim, as one of the subjects said. She also thought that I would photograph the sad and horrifying aspect of mental health which wasn't my intention from the beginning, that is why I had difficulties to approach the issues. I know what I don't want to do, but I had no idea what to do.

After several conversations with each of the subjects, I decided to focus more on portraits. By using portraits, I intend to portray them as who they really are, not just focusing on their issue. I didn't direct them what to do, how to pose my photos, or what to wear. All I wanted to capture was a sense of who they are, which is not that different from us, they are still people. Yes, they have mental health issues, but they aren't defined by their issue. Also, by doing so, it gave me a chance to actually portray the issue in a subtle and dignified way.

Even though the series focused more on the portraits, I also added some metaphorical imagery to help us understand more about their mental state or their individuality.

q: I'm interested in how you view your self-portraits. Self-portraiture includes an element of the artist looking at oneself, and sometimes an element of performance. You seem to use it to express or deal with personal subjects. Any thoughts on this? a: Actually, I started photography by doing self-portrait mostly. At that time, I spent most of my time in my room...at some point, my family thought that I started using drugs. I was just not in a good place, mentally. It was my last year in University, I had nothing else to do, except trying to finish my thesis because I have to. I don't remember exactly, but I started to photograph myself, doing whatever my mind and body urge me to do in front of the camera. I felt a sense of relief - finally I can let everything out without shouting or screaming.

Then, I put those photos online and got nice feedback from random people online. I wasn't really aware that self-portrait is a thing at that time. It felt nice to be appreciated, I guess. It also encouraged me to do more, take pictures of myself, read more about taking a portrait of yourself. That's when an element of performance came into play, rather than doing it spontaneously, I began to take photos more elaborately.

I did this self-portrait series called The Sweet Agony of Narcissism (why did I think this is a good title? hahaha). It's a series about an excessive need for admiration by exploiting and putting my own whatever bad feeling or mental suffering out there, at the same time it was also an enjoyable process. I think, because of that element of performance in self-portrait, I also could use it as a disguise, or even raise a question if that was a real feeling or not.

q: Do you think your experience in literature and theatre influences your photography? a: I think so, there's a lot of subtext in photography, more than what meets the eye, same as literature and theatre, I think. At least, it helps me to create the ark of a series, different possibilities or structures to articulate a story.

q: Photographic equipment? a: Yashica T5D and Olympus Mju II Zoom 80.

q: Any artists or photographers inspiring you right now? a: Wolfgang Tillmans, Thomas Ruff, Nan Goldin, Ryan McGinley and Mary Ellen Mark, etc.

q: Upcoming projects or ideas? a: Before this pandemic shut down the entire world, I was about to start a project about BDSM.

q: Any new music to recommend? a: I'm stuck with Radiohead. Currently, I'm listening to Dancing Years, Sam Fender, Yellow Days, Tom Grennan, King Krule, and James Blake...also, Bondax, Purple Disco Machine or Disclosure.

his website, Flickr and Instagram.

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#nope fun #Asrul dwi #photographer interview #indonesia #jakarta #artist interview #yashica t4 #olympus miu ii zoom 80 #mental heath

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