Our latest issue – Issue 4: Re(framing) Identity is available to preorder: Preorder Now
For this edition, Tiga Mata invites photographers from Southeast Asia to pause and reflect on the meaning of identity, as something whole, complex, and ever-evolving.
Curated by guest editor Caron Toshiko, this theme emerges from her personal journey of deconstructing and reimagining identity, as a woman, the eldest child in her family, and someone navigating societal roles and expectations. She reflects: How have the norms around me shaped the way I behave, speak, and see myself? What labels have been placed on me by family, tradition, or history; and which ones have I chosen to reclaim, resist, or rewrite?
Southeast Asia is home to a vast richness of ethnicities, languages, and lived experiences, shaped by migration, colonialism, resistance, kinship, and ritual. Through this open call, we invite you to explore the layers of your identity, and to reflect on how it is shaped, challenged, and expressed. We believe that to reinterpret and reclaim identity is not just a personal act, but a political one; one that can shift our thoughts, our behaviours, and our realities.
To reframe identity is to open space for transformation.
We’re deeply inspired by theorists like Stuart Hall, who reminds us that identity is never fixed. In his words, it is “a matter of becoming as well as of being”, always in motion, always constructed through representation.
This issue aims to be a space where identity is explored as lived experience; drawn from personal archives, embodied memory, and collective history. We want to see identity not only as it is, but as it could be. Your image holds the power to dismantle dominant narratives that do not speak for you; and to build new ones that do.
As part of the design for this issue, we also invite participants to submit their accompanying narrative in their own handwriting, which may be incorporated directly into the visual layout. Typed submissions are equally welcome if preferred.
Let’s re(frame) identity. Through your lens, and in
your words.
—
Tiga Mata Team
with Guest Editor Caron Toshiko
Featuring works by: Bienyl Huelgas, Brandon Yong, CreationbyMr.K, Evelyn Teh, ivendiyan, Jay Lim, Jego Bayani, J Rex, Laksana Bamrungcheep, Lorrain Tan, Marcel Piedade Lemos, Maythavee In-odd, Meutia Faradilla, midpovs, minchuan_03, Niko, Nur Hidayah, Rejeky Kene, Tolevisuals, Terri Chong, Veronica L. Gregorio, Wisnu, yrpwnanda.
Caron Toshiko is a therapeutic photography practitioner whose work explores the intersections of gender, mental health, and visual storytelling. Since 2014, she has run Gueari Galeri, an Indonesia-based photobook gallery and independent publisher. The gallery has published over 40 Indonesian photobook titles and serves as a platform for socially engaged photographic practices.
With an educational background in Psychology and photojournalism, her research and practice are rooted in questions of care, representation, and the politics of visibility. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, where her research focuses on gender and photography.
Spotlighting bold voices each issue. Get to know the artists behind the lens and what drives their work.
Evelyn Teh is a public policy researcher based in Penang, Malaysia, whose work bridges environmental science, urban studies, and social research. Trained in marine biology, environmental management, and city design at institutions including Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, University of Malaya, and the London School of Economics, her multidisciplinary path reflects a deep curiosity about the intersections between nature, cities, and people. Beyond research, Evelyn is passionate about writing, photography, film, and digital art — creative outlets that mirror her analytical yet reflective approach to understanding the world.
Rejeky Kene is a freelance photographer and librarian based in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. A self-taught photographer, she explores street, documentary, and still photography, along with other creative forms of visual expression. Her work often reflects her deep interest in gender issues, subjects she views as complex, compelling, and still far from equality. Through photography, Rejeky seeks to amplify voices and connect stories that might otherwise go unheard, believing that when words can no longer speak, images can become their most powerful expression.
Meutia Faradilla is a lecturer at a university who loves street photography and issues such as gender equity, feminism, education, and mental health.
Selected works that captured our attention and deserve recognition beyond the pages of the zine.
