Photography and videography for AirAsia brand co., in collaboration with Creative Director Ta-ku, documenting the community and world of Omah Jangan Diam Terus, a backpacker-run café and gathering space in Depok, West Java, Indonesia.

AirAsia brand co. appointed Ta-ku, musician, photographer, visual artist, as Creative Director with a specific intention: to build a platform for the people and communities of ASEAN. 

When he asked me to shoot, I knew immediately who I wanted to bring in.

The People, The Place and The Passion

Omah Jangan Diam Terus is where my friends live. Rafi and Bowo, two backpackers who spent years cycling through Maluku and Sulawesi and came home with enough stories to fill a monthly-changing menu, built this place in a quiet corner of Depok, down narrow roads, no signs, motorbike access only. The kitchen is run by John, Rifki, and Raul. Awan and Oni handle the bar, which serves coffee alongside drinks infused with local spices and herbs from wherever the group has traveled most recently. Everyone there is a friend who showed up and never quite left. That is the whole philosophy of the space.

I have spent enough afternoons there to know exactly how the light moves through the front yard, past the antique motorbikes and the swings and the overgrown green. Photographing it for this project felt like introducing people I love to a camera they didn't need to perform for.