Photo © Suzuko Muto

Joshua Irwandi (b. 1991) is an Indonesian photographer based in Jakarta, Indonesia, whose work has appeared in National Geographic, The Times of London, and The Guardian. After having received education in Canada and the United Kingdom, right after graduation in 2015 Irwandi spent a year as museum staff at the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress in Agats, West Papua. While documenting the change of landscape in Asmat, he encounters first hand the Asmat people, some of the greatest storytellers of all time. As his stay and involvement prolong over time, not only did his perspective change as a mere photographer seeking the exotic and the sensational. He believes that carrying and chronicling the stories into the future – in various creative means – is the sole responsibility of the person with a recording device.

Irwandi’s drive to be a documentarian is on creating memories, not only in Asmat and his (self)-assigned stories but also in every given photographic opportunity. As we create memories, we create history. As we create history, we create perspectives. And as we create perspectives, we provide a reason for change. Creating memories are creating an endless cycle of opportunities to look and therefore to reconsider the human condition and state of the world we live in. This is his core practice and goal as a storyteller.

Education

MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London

BA English Literature, University of Exeter

St. Andrew’s College, Canada

Exhibitions

London College of Communication MAPJD Degree Show: Consider This, London (2015)

University of St. Thomas: Museums and Mission: American Crosiers in Asmat and the Spirit of Vatican II, St. Paul, Minnesota (2014)

University of Exeter Photo Soc: I Witness, Exeter, Devon (2013)

Accolades

Lucie Foundation Emerging Artist Scholarship shortlist (2019)

Lugano Photo Days Finalist (2017)

Runner up, Burn Magazine Emerging Photographer Fund for Young Talent (2015)

VII Masterclass, Milan (2014)

Magnum AGM Masterclass, New York (2014)

Eddie Adams Workshop XVII, New York (2014)

New York Times Portfolio Review, New York (2014)

Adam Broomberg/Oliver Chanarin workshop, London (2014)

Photographer for Exeposé (nominated Guardian Student Media Publication of the Year (2013)

W.D. Neuman Prize for Photography, St. Andrew's College, Aurora, ON (2009, 2010)

Jim Herder Review Prize, St. Andrew's College, Aurora, ON (2009)