Heading to Bali at the end of May is always a good time as we start to get plenty of breeze.On our first visit to Nusa Ceningan island, we had a lovely time to meet and shoot Indah & Justin family.The strong family bond that they have is something that every family would’ve wanted.It was such a beautiful day.
Lukman Sardi is a very familiar name for so many Indonesian, well known for all his appearance and contribution for Indonesian cinema. He inherited his passion for arts from his late father, Indonesian violinist maestro Idris Sardi and also from his grandparents. The numerous awards confirmed his status as one of the best Actors that Indonesia ever had. But perhaps not many of us could see how he likes behind the big screen. So these sessions a few months ago was a special occasion, to meet Lukman Sardi and his lovely family. In the first two sessions, I saw a very happy man who understand how priceless it is to be around his family and spending the time together. The last session, I made a set to emulate a classic movie set in order to make a family portrait that really related with their family life. In the end, I love every single frames from that came out from that day.
It was the end of 2014 on December, a beautiful gift has been given to the lovely couple, Paula and Rubens, where they welcomed Maya into this world. The joyful feeling filled their home and their relatives couldn’t be more ecstatic to welcome a new addition to their family. Maya is so loved already by her parents, especially Rubens’s parents who live in São Paulo that they have to Skype with the little bundle of joy everyday so that Maya will remember her grandma and grandpa who live far away. It’s lovely to see Paula’s motherhood instinct came naturally as Maya arrives in her life and that she is ready to nurture and gives Maya the love she needs.
If you ask these parents, ‘What’s their baby mean to them ?’ You’ll almost definitely hear different kind of answers. But let me begin with my story. It all started when my wife gave birth to our first baby boy, Nelson, just 20 months ago. When it came to finding a name for him, surprisingly we didn’t find it hard to agree. I wanted this boy’s name to begin with N just like Natalia, so I opened baby’s name dictionary and found Nelson. According to the book, Nelson means son of a champion. Beside that, I’m also a great admirer of Nelson Mandela and last but not least, Nelson stands for Natalia and Andrew lovely son. So we have all the right reasons. Since Nelson came to our life, I started to understand and feel what parent’s love really is. And this feeling is unthinkable before he was born. What we’ve experienced for the last 20 months is nothing but a bless from God, as I knew there are lots of babies who’re out there in the cold and not getting the love they deserve from their parents. Nelson is a very lucky boy. From day one, I watched Lia and Nelson relationship grew from strength to strength. I believe it’s one of the most amazing and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. She has done everything every mother should do for their babies. She is a wonderful mother for Nelson and I hope she stays this way forever. What I saw has somehow convinced me that there’s probably nothing else quite like mother & child relationship. It is truly a special relationship. So for the last 20 months, I started to make pictures for young families. I understand how much the parents, particularly the mothers, wanted to make these pictures with their babies and how much the pictures meant for them. But what I really hope is that, years from now the children will see how much they mean to their parents when they look at these pictures. That is the spirit of Mommy&Baby. We wish you all happy holidays !
These portraits were made in the last quarter of 2012. It was about a month after Dian’s first son birthday if I’m not mistaken. And since Dian have not made a formal family portrait with Javanese attire, she thought it’s the right time to make one. Apart from that, Dian and Indra tagged along with the idea of making a personal and intimate family pictures. With Stella Rissa helping to prepare the wardrobes, we picked and matched the color for each set of themes. We all know Dian Sastrowardoyo as the Indonesian sweetheart with her mesmerizing performance in our cinema, but what I saw that day was perhaps another side that we hardly ever seen. I saw a woman who really enjoyed her being in the middle of the family, a loving wife and a mother who was deeply in love with her child.
A family portrait of Bram and Yanti (our groom and bride, on the left) this time with Yanti’s family. I was told Yanti and her sister are both expecting a baby on January 2012. Such an exciting times for the whole family. Two more baby boys certainly will make Naomi (little girl in the middle) the undisputed princess : ) I wish both sisters well in delivering.
Found this family portrait by coincidence when I browsed my old hard drive just a moment ago. I recalled we shot this in January 2008, and It’s a pleasure to see it’s still hanging at Mr. Johar’s house last year when I got there to shoot Melisa’s wedding. Now both Melisa (on the left) and Melina (on the right) have one child, while Yani (in the middle) has got her PhD at a very young age, so I guess that makes Mr.& Mrs.Johar are two happy, proud parents and grandparents.
Wedding anniversary is a special occasion. The later it gets, the more special it feels. And I think that’s what Mr. & Mrs. Gouw felt during this photo shoot. Many thanks to Yuli, who arranged the session from Perth. It was very thoughtful of you. Your parents must be very proud! I wish Mr. & Mrs. Gouw many happy days ahead.
