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A fashion shoot for a designer in Jakarta

When you make your bread and butter by shooting underwater photographs, the question of “what you do for fun” is kind of a ironic. I guess what people are really asking is, when your job is something that is usually one’s hobby, what else tickle’s your fancy? 

In digging into the life of Chris Simanjuntak, I found not only a prolific shooter, but a musician, an athlete, a restorer of classic cars, and, well, a dog lover. Combining an outward expression of being a man’s man with an apparently inward sensitivity towards elegance, grace, and emotion that he reveals through his work, Chris is most certainly a delightfully enigmatic underwater photographer.
 

From a commercial underwater shot for a fashion designer in Bali

About five years ago, Chris left his “before underwater photographer” life of working in hospitality in Jakarta, and moved to Bali in order to be in the heart of the Indonesian diving action. Since he committed to photography full time, much of his work has included commercial and underwater production for print ads and television commercials. But in both his personal and commercial work, there is an apparent awareness of conceptualism, a profound expression of human beauty, and at times, an ethereal quality blended within his surreal landscapes.

So in short, I guess it just goes to show that you can’t judge a photographer’s work by his hobbies. That a man with a bat and a ball and an oily wrench can create beautiful aesthetics. And as an example of someone who took a leap of making his passion his profession, his appreciation for his craft percolates through his photographs, revealing a body of images that draw the audience in to the world as he views it through his lens.
 

From a commercial shot in Alor
 

Checking on his catch of the day in Alor
 

Giant trevally, Tulamben, Bali
 

Togean Island, Central Sulawesi
 

At the entrance to the tunnel of Kristal Cave, Kupang
 

Sandbar in the Java Sea
 

Chris Simanjuntak

To see more of Chris' work, visit his website.