Pabean Passage
For over a century, the Pabean Market, located in Surabaya, Indonesia, has been the center of the spice trade in the agrarian Indonesian province of East Java. The sweet smell of spices filling the air; workers carrying baskets bursting with produce and seafood to the compact, cluttered shops lining the labyrinth of alleys the Pabean Market, is typical (but in some respects unique) for markets in Java.
The Three Entities: the Madurese, the Javanese, and Chinese each play a distinct role in the economic activity of Pabean Market. They occupy their own niche, but all work in synergy.
They have their individual beliefs and convoluted backgrounds, but all are united in a common goal: pursuing a livelihood in Pabean Market.
From the air, Pabean Market resembles a spider web, the threads representing the interconnecting alleys. I had spent over than a year in this web, trying to capture the heartbeat of the century-old market.
I found the heart of the market: the people. Hidden in the crowded corners of the market, jammed into a twelve-square meter stall (one of hundreds) but living peacefully with their neighbors—sharing life space – the shopkeepers and laborers yearned to be found, to be discovered. Faces emerged from the alleys to seek out my lens with increasing frequency.
The images reveal the emotions and expressions, the various cultural, and psychological backgrounds—a mosaic of humanity in peaceful co-existence.
Like most art forms, photography is life enriching: the act of capturing through a lens promotes positive social interaction and the will to travel and explore.
The Three Entities: the Madurese, the Javanese, and Chinese each play a distinct role in the economic activity of Pabean Market. They occupy their own niche, but all work in synergy.
They have their individual beliefs and convoluted backgrounds, but all are united in a common goal: pursuing a livelihood in Pabean Market.
From the air, Pabean Market resembles a spider web, the threads representing the interconnecting alleys. I had spent over than a year in this web, trying to capture the heartbeat of the century-old market.
I found the heart of the market: the people. Hidden in the crowded corners of the market, jammed into a twelve-square meter stall (one of hundreds) but living peacefully with their neighbors—sharing life space – the shopkeepers and laborers yearned to be found, to be discovered. Faces emerged from the alleys to seek out my lens with increasing frequency.
The images reveal the emotions and expressions, the various cultural, and psychological backgrounds—a mosaic of humanity in peaceful co-existence.
Like most art forms, photography is life enriching: the act of capturing through a lens promotes positive social interaction and the will to travel and explore.