03/08/2026
This May, during our Sanren Workshop, we invited Indonesian photography team Owlsome to Batu Pahat as one of our guest speakers.After the workshop, they created a series of photographs inspired by their first impressions of Batu Pahat—using the streets and everyday scenes that surround our lives as their backdrop.
The result is something really interesting.The streets and places that had become so familiar to us looked completely different through their eyes. Through their photographs, we were able to rediscover another side of Batu Pahat—one that had always been there, but perhaps we had stopped noticing.
A few months later, we received an invitation from Timeless Conference to be part of their organizing team, bringing us back once again to Jakarta, Indonesia.
This time, after the conference ended, we wanted to do the same thing—to photograph Jakarta through our own eyes, and document the feelings and impressions this city gave us.
So we invited our friends, Raymond and Lauren, to be part of the photographs. At the same time, we wanted this series to document something more personal: our connection with them, and the story of how photography brought us together.
It all started three years ago.
Rayson was travelling in Japan, while Frandi happened to be there for a photography assignment. Through the internet, they connected and decided to meet in Japan.That simple meeting became the beginning of a friendship.Later, Frandi joined our workshop and our Sanren International Exchange Program. Eventually, he became part of Sanren as one of our overseas teammates.
During last year's International Exchange Program, we were looking for a team to document the entire two-week journey. Frandi introduced us to the Indonesian team Jendela.That was how Raymond, Samuel and Abraham came to Batu Pahat.The three of them spent two weeks living, working and experiencing the journey together with us—and somewhere along the way, a friendship was planted.Later, whenever our team travelled to Indonesia for commercial shoots, their team was always there to support and help us.
Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful things photography can become.
Not just photographs.Not just work.But connections between people, friendships across countries, and stories that continue long after the photographs are made.
Malaysia and Indonesia may be neighbours, but culturally, there are still so many differences between us.This series is our attempt to document the cultural impact Jakarta had on us.Our first impression of Jakarta? People. Cars. Everywhere. But also so much friendliness.
We wanted to include some of the interesting people and moments we encountered along the way: street clowns, lion dancers, vendors, drivers, and all the little scenes that slowly became part of our impression of Jakarta.For the people who live here, these may simply be ordinary parts of everyday life. But for us, seeing Jakarta with fresh eyes, everything felt new, unfamiliar and fascinating.
Just as Owlsome once showed us another side of Batu Pahat through their eyes, this time, we wanted to show a little piece of Jakarta through ours.
And finally
Thank you, Raymond, who loves Doraemon just as much as Rayson do. And Lauren, with her beautifully sentimental heart. Here’s to friendship. Here’s to photography. And here’s to all the unexpected connections it brings into our lives.
Long live friendship!
