THE SECRETS OF BLACK AND WHITE
An exhibition by Zet Zaeni
“The secrets of black and white photography is about using the absence of colour, to reflect the essence of life, simple but deep.”
Zet Zaeni grew up in a poor family in a small village in central Java called Kabumen. His father was a humble man who did the designs for building projects in the village. As a young child, Zet would follow his father everywhere and watch him work.
His love for art came from his love for his father. From the age of five years, he revealed an interest in drawing which has remained with him to this day.
As a young teenager, he discovered the camera. He didn’t have one but his friend had a camera. Zet would ask to use it and take photos. Self-taught, through trial and error and using his own art as something of a template. You could say Zet learned photography from drawing. He loves to capture the human element in its most natural raw form always hoping to express the natural beauty and capture the feeling and expression of the heart of the person.
Zet Zaeni spends a lot of his own time traveling into small and remote villages, using his photography in a way to get to know the different walks of life. It is this exposure to the myriad of different cultures and nature across many different parts of Indonesia and the rest of the world from which he draws his inspiration and from where he has developed his empathy for life.
Respect for other humans and their souls exists within each and every one of us. It is there in our love of life and in every one of those sentimental moments we experience. Photos capture moments but they also capture the emotion of the moment that tells a story of human nature and the soul that exists within.
“Life and friendship are simple and beautiful, black and white is my expression of that simplicity and beauty.”
I will invite you to explore the beauty Secrets behind photo BW Human & Landscape that with photos we will see more details about life and the world.
We are aware that we are not alone and that the world is vast so we realize that we are small, so make life beautiful, a Beautiful Life is when we can help many people
WWW.MENTARIHUMBA.COM
As a direct result of his travels, Zet, along with some likeminded friends founded the Reading Garden, ‘Mentari Humba.’
While in East Sumba where the climate is dry and surrounded by savannah hills. Zet and his friends noticed that the children in this area not only have an incredible eagerness to learn, but that the majority of them had to travel an unacceptably far distance on foot to attend schools where they received only a poor education due to a lack of teachers and learning tools. Most of these children come from less fortunate families who live in areas of dry and rocky terrains. Families that seldom leave the village and who mostly don’t own televisions thus receiving minimal information about the outside world. The world beyond their villages is virtually unknown to them.
Zet will donate all of the proceeds from this exhibition to the Reading Garden ‘Mentari Humba’.
It is his hope that the access to books will open the hearts and minds of these children much like art and photographs did for him many years ago.
Images by Didit Prasetyo Adiwibowo
