Ludruk is an ancient, traditional Indonesian comedic music theater form, found only in East Java, Indonesia, telling stories of daily life and the struggles of everyday people.
The she-male players undergo multi-hour make up sessions in the dim-lit backstage before each performance, for a spectacular transvestite (“waria” in Indonesian) transformation.
In East Java’s biggest city of Surabaya, there is only one troupe left, called “Irama Budaya”, with about 30 members, mainly poor transvestites being paid less than one dollar for each show which is now held once a week, every Saturday evening.
Although a Civil Engineer by profession, he turned out to be an amateur travel photographer having traveled to numerous countries around the world such as Ethiopia, India, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Cote d'Ivoire, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Mali, Benin, Haiti, Cuba etc. His main goal is to capture the uniqueness of the local cultures and the life of the people in the most remote places of our world. Recently graduated Anthropology of Religions at UCLA.
Awards His pictures have been awarded multiple awards in many prestigious photo competitions and have been published in many books and magazines.
Best New Talent of the Year, PX3
Portraiture Photographer of the Year PX3
1st place, IPA awards
Discovery of the Year, Finalist, IPA awards
1st place, Chromatic Awards
Travel Photographer of the Year, Judges Choice
Numerous Honorable Mentions, IPA awards
Masters Cup, Honorable Mentions, Nominee
Exposure Awards, Finalist
Photographer’s Forum Magazine, Finalist
ND Awards, Honorable Mention
Global Photo Travel Contest, Honorable Mentions
