Field Reporting - UQ in Jakarta
- Holly Richardson
- Jun 4, 2018
- 2 min read
This field reporting course has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in my entire university and journalistic career, so far.
Jakarta is an incredible place, so incredibly unlike my home town of Brisbane, sometimes it felt like an assault on the senses every time I stepped outside, but there were some incredible people and experiences I had that I think nowhere else could produce.
As I journalist I learnt a great deal. Persistence and creativity got me so many breakthroughs in stories that were otherwise really struggling to move - if someone wasn't answering phone calls from my local student guide then I'd get the hotel to call them, if they still didn't answer I'd just turn up to their office and just show security guards the address over and over again until I got the the right location. I got to speak to so many people this way that I never would have if I'd given up at the first hurdle. Open mindedness and research into intercultural differences also goes a huge way into making the experience easier.
During this course I produced three pieces of work: a long form radio documentary and two photographic, audio pieces. I was exceptionally proud of my radio documentary and I really love the feeling that the sounds combined with photographs help to re-create the feeling of being in Jakarta.
Finding Fresh Air in The Big Durian
In the midst of Jakarta, the capital of the fourth most populated country in the world, fresh air is hard to find.
As the city has developed, urban green spaces and coastal mangroves have sharply declined, leaving the immense population with many environmental issues such as heavily polluted air and regular flooding.
Hear from some of the locals on how they value the remaining green spaces and how some are working to get them back.
Lihat tuh, ada bule!
Lihat tuh, ada bule! roughly translated means “See the foreigner, over there!” and was a phrase I heard many times by small children as they played in the streets of Jakarta.
Follow the moments of these childrens’ lives across Jakarta with sounds taken from various locations where children play in the city, from parks and village streets to schoolyards.
In this visual story I wanted to look at Jakarta in a different way, but in doing so I knew I would never see it in an unbiased way and so in using this Bahasa phrase I acknowledge that while I was fascinated with the lives of the locals, they too were fascinated with me and what I was doing and so the observation often went both ways.
Sunrise in Karet Bivak Cemetery
Karet Bivak Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in central Jakarta. This place is incredibly important to local people who regularly come to tend their relatives’ graves. The cemetery offers a unique contrast between the hush of a cemetery and the rumble of motorbikes and the calling of roosters.
Comments