Tintype print by Steve Baum
I was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, with a Minangkabau mother whose lineage is matrilineal and a Javanese father shaped by a patriarchal tradition. These two distinct traditions continue to shape the photographs I make.
After migrating to the United States, I spent more than 25 years in Silicon Valley, building a career in tech. From working in a small startup to a big corporation. From building enterprise to consumer-facing products. From an individual contributor to management. It was a rewarding career, but over time, I realized I wanted to do something else.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, I began a long process of evaluating my life and, in 2023, decided to pursue the passion I'd put on hold for most of my life: photography. I've loved taking photos since I was young, but I never seriously learned the craft.
Finding the Camera
In December 2022, I attended my first one-on-one workshop, working with a model for the first time under the guidance of fashion and fine art photographer Mark de Paola. That single session was enough to convince me I was on the right path. I was drawn not only to Mark's photographs, but to the way he thought about photography. He spoke about shooting wide open not as a technical choice, but as a way to express emotion and embrace the softness of human perception. He showed me a different way to think about making pictures. That way of seeing has stayed with me and continues to shape the photographs I make.
Over the next few years, I joined Mark’s masterclasses and immersive shooting experiences. Those experiences took me from the redwood forests of Big Sur to backstage at New York Fashion Week, and from a week immersed in Tokyo’s photography culture to a five-day portraiture masterclass in Paris.
Finding Community
After spending the next couple of years exploring several genres of photography and learning from several accomplished photographers, my pursuit became more serious in late 2024, and I started looking for photography communities to help me grow.
The East Bay Photo Collective (EBPCO) in Oakland taught me the fundamentals of photography, from darkroom printing and alternative processes to image critique. I also found creative friends that I continue to get feedback from.
The Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel introduced me to a community of fine-art photographers and diverse artistic practices. The Palo Alto Camera Club (PACC) gave me a steady, supportive group to bring work to, to fail in front of, and to grow with. The Cameras and Coffee Club of Oakland introduced me to supportive, talented creatives in the SF Bay Area.
Finding the Path
The last stretch has been about direction rather than volume, learning to ask why I make the work. I started 2026 with a portfolio development class, which taught me to look at my own images the way a stranger would. That was followed by a bookmaking workshop, which taught me that a body of work is not just a pile of good photographs; it’s a sequence that tells a story.
Now
Today, based in Sunnyvale, California, I create photographs that explore identity, belonging, and the ways people inhabit themselves and the spaces around them. My work has been exhibited in group exhibitions across the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey Bay since 2024.