Bukit Asam Coal Miners Celebrate 9th Fotografer.net Anniversary

Photo by Nico Wijaya

Around 40 photographers from Palembang and surrounding cities in South Sumatra visited PT Bukit Asam coal mine in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra, Indonesia, January 11-12. They were invited by Photography Bukit Asam (PBA) on behalf of Art and Sport Board Bukit Asam (Porsiba) to visit Bukit Asam mining site in relation with 9th Anniversary Fotografer.net. There were delegations of at least 6 local photography communities in South Sumatra attended the visit, organized by FNers Palembang.

The visit also involved Kristupa Saragih, co-founder of Fotografer.net and A Ruli Trisaputra, moderator of Fotografer.net along together with Sahrial Alam, Vicky and Dayaningrat of PBA. In the Welcome Dinner, PBA Chairman Vicky stated that Porsiba is generous to support photography activities of PBA. “We expect upcoming photography events in Bukit Asam in relation with FNers Palembang,” said Vicky.

Photo by Nico Wijaya

Photo by Nico Wijaya

As one of major coal mine in Indonesia, Bukit Asam has started their activities in Tanjung Enim since Dutch colonialism in 1919. As the biggest state-owned coal mine, Bukit Asam expects for 16 million tonnes of production in 2012. The company is run by more than 3,200 employees.

Photo by Farano Gunawan

Photography has been one of activities in Porsiba for the last couple of years. In Oct 2011, PBA organized photography wokshop conducted by A Ruli Trisaputra in Tanjung Enim. The number of members of PBA has reached 40 and counting up.

All participants visited Air Laya open-pit mine site, observed the pit from view point. The visit then continued to Train Loading Station (TLS) 01 and TLS 02. The shot involved railways around stockpiles and TLS towers.

Photo by Nico Wijaya

To wrap the visit, all participants had a fun photoshoot with 2 models, Aneu Sonia and Aura Dhiba. The photoshoot took place in haul truck assembling area near TLS, warehouse yard, and a reclamated pond.