Street Photography in Jakarta

Kota Tua is the old town, the walled Dutch settlement of Batavia built in the 1600s. Its center is Fatahillah Square, with the Fatahillah Museum on one side and restored colonial buildings with tall shuttered windows around it. On weekends the square fills with local visitors, which is good for crowd scenes. It is also good after dark. Jamie of Follow the Boat shot here at night and found canteens and market traders open late in the back streets just off the square. Use a shuttered window or an arch as a frame and wait for one figure to fill it. Pickpockets work weekend crowds, so keep your bag in front.

Sunda Kelapa is the old port just north of Kota Tua, and it still works. Painted wooden pinisi schooners, built by Bugis shipwrights from South Sulawesi, tie up along the quay while dockworkers carry cargo on and off by hand. Local photographer Nico Harold calls it his favorite place for street work in Jakarta. The workers are used to cameras and often friendly. On weekday afternoons, kids who live beside the harbor jump off the ships for fun. If they spot you shooting, they may ask for a cheap drink. Stand low on the quay and shoot along the hulls for depth. It is an active industrial site: don't block busy workers and watch for moving equipment.

Jakarta Kota Station, at the edge of the old town, was first built in 1887 and rebuilt in 1929 in an Art Deco style with a big arched roof. It is a terminus for commuter trains, so rush hour brings waves of people flowing through the hall. The arched roof and the long platforms give you strong lines and repeating shapes. I'd come at the evening rush and stand at the end of the hall, shooting back toward the light so the crowd turns to silhouettes. Rules for photography inside stations can change, so if staff ask you to stop, stop. It is a short walk from Fatahillah Square.

Glodok is Jakarta's Chinatown. It began long before Indonesia existed, as the area where the Dutch required Batavia's Chinese residents to live. Today it is a tangle of markets and old houses around Petak Sembilan, with temples including the Vihara Dharma Bhakti. Mornings are best, when the market lanes are busiest and light cuts into narrow streets. Inside the temple compound, incense smoke catches the light, but people are there to pray: keep your distance and don't use flash. Look for a vendor lit by a single gap between awnings. The area is busiest around Chinese New Year, which is good for pictures and bad for elbow room.

Lapangan Banteng is a public square next to the Cathedral and the Istiqlal Mosque, revitalized in 2018 around the West Irian Liberation Monument. The redesign gave it a fountain pool, and on weekend afternoons there is often a colorful dancing fountain show that pulls families in. Lomography's community lists it as one of the good open spaces for street photography in the city. Come in the late afternoon and stay for the show. Shoot the crowd lit by the fountain lights, or silhouette people against the spray. A running track circles the park, so early mornings give you joggers against the monument.

Every Sunday morning, Jalan Sudirman and Jalan Thamrin close to cars and turn into one long promenade. Thousands of people come out to exercise, and hundreds of vendors set up along the road selling food and much more. Bundaran HI, the roundabout with the Selamat Datang Monument, is the center of it. Sebastian Jacobitz calls it one of the best places for street photography in Jakarta and met the local street photography community there. Arrive early, as the cars vanish soon after dawn. Work the exercise classes near Grand Indonesia and the vendors under the towers. It gets very crowded, so hold your camera close.

Blok M in South Jakarta is a shopping and nightlife district, and M Bloc Space on Jalan Panglima Polim has become a hub for artists and musicians. Lomography recommends it for the afternoons when a band or musician is playing. The nearby Panglima Polim streets are full of small coffee shops and a young crowd that is used to cameras. Come here for portraits of young Jakarta rather than markets. Shoot the audience, not the band. The area is well connected by MRT, which saves you the traffic.