The Invisible People
Nineteen
the untold tales of street vendors
Text by Irfan Kortschak Photography by Josh Estey
MercyCorps
201 pages
They prevail all over the landscapes in Jakarta. They are so prevalent, fitting into every frame of the cityscape; we don’t see them at all. They’re the invisible people of Jakarta. They are by no means marginal people, in the sense that their identities are shrouded over or their presences are obscured from our sight; they are right before our eyes but as Sidharta’s friend, Govinda, who keeps missing what’s under his nose, we just fail to cognize them. Through our inurement or our indolence, we’ve taken them for granted.
One illustrated book, commissioned by MercyCorps, entitled Nineteen will help realign our vision and direct our attention to the existence of the street vendors in Jakarta. MercyCorps commissioned a team of two of the city’s most savvy journalists, Irfan Kortschak (for the text) and Josh Estey (for the photography) to bring out the myriad tales of Jakarta’s street vendors. Their mission was simple: find out and capture in photography and text how these street vendors survive in this city.
After dithering over a method to carry on with their task for some time, Irfan and Josh eventually agreed to pick up their subjects desultorily as they hove into their sights in various parts of Jakarta. As a result, Irfan’s interview and Josh’s superb photographic studies show us a penetrating glimpse of human resilience in the face of the most challenging circumstances. The scales of our trials and tribulations are dwarfed in comparison to these people’s unwavering perseverance and simple hopes.
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