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Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy
11 October 2021

The workings of images in contributing to socio-political changes

PhD researcher Danishwara Nathaniel interviews the Indonesian documentary-maker Muhammad Fadli

The research project Imageapp, hosted at AHCD, investigates the impact of image-making and its circulation in enabling and enhancing the possibilities to address and redress (in)visibilities corresponding to asymmetries of, among others, religion, ethnicity, and race.

During his recent fieldwork in Indonesia, PhD researcher Danishwara Nathaniel interviewed Muhammad Fadli, one of the project interlocutors whose visual documentary project, The Banda Journal, has just been published. He explores how the image-maker and his collaborators see the workings of images in contributing to socio-political changes. Published in April 2021 in a photobook form by Fadli and writer Fatris MF, The Banda Journal combines the medium of text and images to chronicle the legacy of Banda’s brutal colonization.

We produced this video interview with Fadli to unpack notions of 'representational redress' and visual media's potential in doing reparative work, which in itself is a political process.’ The video interview put forward some themes surrounding the production process, its collaborative methods, critical approaches to storytelling and historiography, and the public reception of this archive. 

Representational Redress in The Banda Journal

Muhammad Fadli is a Sumatran-born Indonesian photographer based in Jakarta, Indonesia, focusing on documentary and portrait photography. His personal projects explore different themes such history, subculture, environment, and social issue. Fadli’s work has been exhibited in various photo festivals and published in international publications such as National Geographic, Wall Street Journal,  Le Monde, and Der Spiegel. He is one of the recipients of The Ground Truth Project Climate Change Fellowship in 2016 and was awarded a prize by the Istanbul Photo Awards 2018.