BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS of cultural destinations in Indonesia, such as the ancient Prambanan and Borobudur temples, as well as the sights of Toraja and Bali, are among the highlights of the “Wonderful Indonesia” photo exhibition, which opened on Monday at Siam Paragon.

The exhibition has 100 photos by nine Indonesian photographers along with Bangkok-based Hong Kong businessman and photographer Chi Wai David Lau, who mounted the show.

A travelling show, the Bangkok exhibition follows stops around Indonesia since 2014. The photos were also shown in February in Istanbul, where Art Photography of Indonesia was supported by the Tourism Ministry of Indonesia.

Lau, who was ranked seventh in the world in 1981 in the colour-print section of the Photographic Society of America, took around 70 photos of scenes around Indonesia.

For the show, he selected 64 of his photos in addition to 36 more images by members of Art Photography of Indonesia. The purpose of the show is promote the tourism in Indonesia and further boost the cultural ties between Thailand and itsAsean Economic Community neighbour.

Scenes covering the beauty and uniqueness of Indonesia include mountains, lakes, sunrises, sunsets and volcanoes. There are also beauty queens, oxen racing, tribal rites and riders galloping their horses along the beach. Locations covered the breadth of the archipelago nation and include Banyuwangi, Mount Bromo, Probolinggo, West Sumatra, Bali, Lombok, Komodo, Sumba, Toraja, Lampung, Central Java, West Java and Papua.

In addition to Lau, the photographers are Agatha Anne Bunanta, Edwin Djuanda, Vincent Kohar, Edwind Benjamin, Rudy Sunandar, Elyana Dasuki, Qwadru Putro Wicaksono, John Hantoro and Arya Dwita Dedok.

They are part of Art Photography of Indonesia, a non-profit organisation with the slogan “Friendship through Photography. The group’s mission is “to build awareness and appreciation of the community to care and be proactive to the art of photography”.

VISUAL IMPACT

– “Wonderful Indonesia” runs until Sunday in the Lifestyle Hall on the second floor of Siam Paragon in Bangkok.

– For more details, check ArtPhotoIndo.com.