Profiles

Binsar’s Story: A Photographer in Aceh

Binsar Bakkara (left) has his photographs edited by VII photographer Gary Knight during the Bali Photo Workshop in August 2005. Photo: John Stanmeyer-VII

His body is relatively small, but his working spirit is extraordinary. His camera is always with him wherever he goes. Binsar Bakkara is a photographer from Associated Press who moved to Aceh to learn photojournalism before the tsunami changed life in that Indonesian province forever.

Binsar Bakkara spent his childhood in North Sumatra minding his family’s cattle and traveling one hour by canoe to his elementary school each day. When he grew up he moved from his village to the city of Medan to major in Communications at the University of North Sumatra. Binsar spent his spare time climbing mountains and dabbling in journalism. He started his journalism career while studying at the university by sending articles, mostly about his climbing trips, to print media in Jakarta.

Binsar moved to Aceh in July 2003, where he quickly found work as a stringer for the Associated Press. The Free Aceh Movement (known as GAM in Indonesia) fought to separate Aceh from Indonesia for 30 years, until a tentative peace agreement was signed in August 2005. Together, the Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian national army were responsible for 12,000 deaths. Journalists with the courage to report on this conflict could never be sure if it was the rebels or the army that was trying to kill them when their vehicles were strafed with bullets.

When the tsunami struck, Binsar was having a holiday break in his hometown in North Sumatra. One day after the tsunami he hurried back to Banda Aceh to find that all of his camera equipment and photographs had been swept away by the waves. “Everything’s out of our control, no human being could be able to imagine what happened that day.”

Binsar was grateful to be alive, but frustrated to be without his own cameras with which to work. This all changed when Binsar met the Aceh staff of Internews and one of the founding members of the VII photo agency, John Stanmeyer. VII is a leading photojournalism agency created by seven of the world’s leading news photographers. John Stanmeyer works for the Paris-based agency from his base on the island of Bali, where he runs workshops for photojournalists from around the world.

After the tsunami, John had contacted Internews to offer a free spot in his next training course to an Acehnese journalist, if Internews could pay the journalist’s travel and lodging. Internews flew Binsar to Bali for the two week intensive seminar.

According to Stanmeyer, Binsar was the star of the class. “He had a difficult start but with solid pushing…he pulled off a brilliant story (about cultural diversity in Bali) that drew huge cheers during the final night’s projects,” Stanmeyer said. After hearing that Binsar lost all of his camera equipment in the tsunami, a photographer from New York pulled John aside one night. He said, "This guy from Aceh, Binsar, really has talent. I watched him work with his camera today and realized he's got tremendous talent and potential."

The photographer then handed John a Canon D10, which John presented to Binsar in Aceh after the workshop.

Stanmeyer feels Binsar stood out in his course because he is exceptionally passionate and eager to learn. “His experience with Associated Press has been excellent,” John said, “but because Indonesia doesn't have a broad country infrastructure to teach photojournalism, it was obvious Binsar needed and therefore gained much by being able to attend the workshop in Bali.”

Binsar says he never wept for losing his possessions in the tsunami because thousands of Acehnese lost so much more, including entire families. He does find sadness, however, while covering the aftermath of the tsunami in the field.

When asked why he always keeps his camera with him (even when he sleeps), Binsar shares his most important and hard learned lesson. "Moments can happen at any time, and no one can predict."

Slideshow of Binsar and his photographs