Maaf!

permissi (excuse me)

Maaf! means "sorry" in Indonesian. You might think it's easy to ride along in the back seat of a car and snap perfect photos. The truth is, I've deleted hundreds of what would surely have been the "perfect shot" had a motor not zoomed between my lens and my subject at the exact wrong time.





My usual MO is to start deleting the ones that "got away" as I sort through my shots of the day. It's a rare day that I don't delete a few motorcycle helmets that unfortunately appeared out of nowhere just as I released the shutter. Last week I decided to save a few so you can see what photography in Bandung is really like!

motors motors everywhere!

I asked Ferry to estimate how many motors there are on the streets of Bandung. He couldn't even venture a guess. It feels like there are almost as many motors as there are people and I really don't think my guess is that far off.

so much for the tapioca warehouse

We've even seen an occasional 10-12 year old driving although I think 16 is the youngest that one can get a license. We've been told that pretty much anyone can purchase a motor if they have $50 to put down. Supposedly it's very easy to get a loan and of course they are cheap to operate.

Maaf! never mind the veggie seller

Besides being cheaper to own and operate than a car, motors also move much faster in traffic than cars do. However, with it raining some part of almost every day, riding a motor comes with its own challenges. Drivers are supposed to wear helmets, limit passengers to 2, be licensed and carry insurance. Of course they rarely follow any of these "guidelines."

missed the banana man

so much for the "little girl singing" shot

I'm sure other Asian cities are just as bad, but drivers here must learn to navigate cars, motors, angkots, bicycles, trucks, becaks, men pushing carts, school children and pedestrians. It's amazing that we've not seen more accidents than we have during our stay here. Thankfully, most of what we've seen have been the "getting knocked off and scruffed up" variety.

typical parking lot

motor parking lot

 who wants a photo of tukang jamu anyway?

So just in case you haven't gotten the full picture yet, the 30 second clip (below) will help you appreciate why so many of my photos look like the ones featured here!