Hendra Eka is Indonesian photographer - journalist based in Jakarta. He covers news, sports, and stories on a wide range of in-depth issues in Southeast Asia. He received The Best Indonesian Journalist 2024 award from the Indonesia Press Council (Dewan Pers).
Early in career, Hendra get many assignments to cover sports such as NBA in California-US, EURO football in Poland-Ukraine, Tour de France, Formula One (F1), Australian Basketball League (ABL), Asian Games and Sea Games Malaysia, WTAFinals in Singapore, and AFF in Vietnam.
Now he focuses on photographing documentaries and stories. He covers conflict in Wamena-Papua, flash flood & politics in Bangladesh, cannabis & sex worker legalization in Bangkok, Christmas convoy in West Phillippines Sea, and many more. In addition, he has also 3-month overland expedition from Bangkok, Thailand to Wagah, Pakistan. In 2023 he covered the civil war of Myanmar in Mae Sot refugee camp, Myanmar-Thailand border and in 2024, he visited the largest refugee camp in the world in Cox's Bazaar.
His work has been recognized by Picture of The Year International (PoYI), Belfast photo festival, Helsinki photo festival, Head On photo Australia, Photoville New York, Tokyo Int'l Foto Award, Indonesian Photojournalist Award (APFI), and Jakarta international photo festival (JIPFest).
He is recipient of Erasmus Huis Fellowship to Amsterdam 2020, program from the Kingdom of the Netherlands with NOOR Images for one photojournalist from Indonesia. He completed his master's degree magna cumlaude by researching how photojournalism can change public policy. Hendra is a regular contributor to Dutch national newspaper, de Volkskrant for Southeast Asia region and an feature editor at Indonesia' JawaPos.com.
In March 2023 Hendra launched his monograph “Lisette”.
Curious if Hendra can do anything for you? For questions, a cup of coffee, or collaborations, you can send a message to mail@hendraeka.com and Instagram: @_hendraeka
The 2024 Best Indonesian Journalist Trophy from the Press Council.
Selected Collective Exhibition
2024 - Lisette – Tokyo International Foto Award (TIFA), Marunouchi Gallery & Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
2023 – Lisette – Helsinki Photo Festival, Helsinki, Finland
2023 – Lisette – Kuala Lumpur Photo Award (KLPA), Temu House Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2023 – Lisette – Photoville, Brooklyn bridge New York, United States
2022 – Living in the Red Zone – Pan-Asian photography exhibition, the V54 (54 Village Road), Happy Valley, Hong Kong
2022 – Living in the Red Zone – Changing Asia, New Normal photo exhibition, Central World – Bangkok, Thailand
2022 – Wamena Post-Bellum – Gambar pun Rebound. Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia
2021 – Wamena Post-Bellum – Projection night at Jakarta International Photo Festival (JIPFest), Jakarta, Indonesia
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 – Indonesian parliament photo exhibition. Indonesian parliament, Jakarta, Indonesia
2021 – Wamena Post-Bellum - Indonesian Photojournalist Award. National library, Jakarta, Indonesia
2019, 2021 – Indonesian Presidential Palace photo exhibition. NEO Soho, Jakarta, Indonesia
2018, 2020 – Rekam Jakarta. Taman Menteng & Thamrin 10, Jakarta, Indonesia
2019, 2020 – Solo Photo Festival. Solo, Central Java, Indonesia.
2018 – Silent Fight – Diversity. WTC, Jakarta and Dutch Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2014 – Indonesian Photojournalist Award. Grand Indonesia Mall, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2012 – Ekspression of Kiev. Exhibition by The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Kiev, Ukraine.
2012 – Summer Olympic. R.K Burts Gallery, London, UK.
Workshop
Challenges in Photojournalism, mentored by Alex Ellinghausen, The Sydney Morning Herald Australia.
Adapting visual story to online publishing, mentored by Espen Rasmussen of VII Photo. Jakarta.
Erasmus Huis Fellowship, mentored by Kadir Van Lohuizen of NOOR Images. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Permata Photojournalist Grant, mentored by Saša Kralj, Edy Purnomo of PannaFoto and Jenny Smets of World Press Photo. Jakarta.
Jury, Editor, & Curator
Book, Editor at Large: Ministry of Finance, 2019-2024 State Budget Photo Book
Book, Editor at Large: Photo Book of Five Years of Service of the Chairwoman of the Indonesian House of Representatives
Book, Editor at Large: Indonesian Photojournalist Award 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Mentor: Story Telling & Pitching Photography Project Workshop at PannaFoto Institute, Bekasi, 2024.
Guest Lecturer: Basic Photojournalism, Pamulang University (UNPAM), South Tangerang, 2024.
Curator: Rekam Jakarta (Captured Jakarta) Photo Exhibition 2024. Selecting photos and organizing the exhibition.
Jury member: Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Journalism Award (Anugerah Jurnalistik Sahabat Bahari KKP)
Jury member: State Electricity Enterprise (PLN) Nusantara Power internal photo competition.
Jury member: The state-owned Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) photo contest.
Jury member: Photo contest at the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Indonesia (Kejaksaan Agung RI).
Jury member: Photo competition for certification services, MUTU International.
Jury member: Plastic waste and environment, journalist photo competition. NU Online Jakarta.
Curator: Indonesian Parliament Photo Exhibition 2023
Jury member: "Setara" photo contest, Girl UP Indonesia.
Jury member: Jakarta Formula-E, journalist photo competition.
Jury member: Photo story competition “Rumahku, Halamanku” by PannaFoto Institute & 1000 Kata.
Jury: Parahyangan University Bandung student photo contest "Rising".
Passport & Visa
Citizenship: Indonesia
Valid visa: All Southeast Asia, United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Turkey, Qatar, Kiribati, Fiji, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and others (please ask).