B&h Photography Podcast

While Joshua Irwandi was born and raised in Indonesia, the early pictures he made during his first visit to the region of Asmat, in the province of West Papua, were less than satisfying to him. Yet his fascination with the people and the place stuck, inspiring him to embark on the long-term project Not a Blank Canvas. In this third installment of our monthly series, Picturing World Cultures, we speak with Irwandi about his experiences documenting the people and landscape of Asmat, which offers a window into long-held traditions and the sweeping changes he’s observed there over the past 10 years. Listen in as Irwandi describes how tapping into the region’s rich history through museum collections holding Asmat art proved an important part of his background research. We also discuss the connections he forged with the local Catholic church, and how the many years an American missionary spent learning about and embracing local ways led to a blending of Catholic celebrations and iconography with traditional Asmat f