TITLE: The kingdom of Bantar Gebang

About 12 miles from Jakarta on the island of Java in Indonesia lies Bantar Gebang – the largest open landfill site in south-east Asia.
And home to around 3,000 families. Some of the children that call this frightful place home were even born there.
Their lives have been documented in a series of shocking images by 36-year-old photographer Alexandre Sattler from Colmar, France.

He visited the dump – which receives 9,000 tonnes of rubbish a day - because he was interested in discovering more about Indonesia’s waste problem.

‘The problem is global, and waste is everywhere. One solution would be to rethink our lifestyles and consumption, to find a way to reduce our waste by producing less wealth. In order to help families living in Bantar Gebang, contact local associations that help families directly by improving their living conditions (water, hygiene, food), and by allowing children to go to school.’

AUTHOR: Sattler Alexandre (France)

Travel and cultural immersion are the main subjects of Alexandre Sattler’s work, through photography and radio documentary. Born in 1980, Alexandre grew up in the mountains. His playgrounds were the forests and neighbours’ farms. He developed his care for all living beings at a young age. His love for nature led him to naturalist studies. His adventurous soul brought him to Africa at the age of 20. He returned to France to finish his naturalist and mountain guide diplomas and hit the road again as soon as possible, with his camera.

From there he embarked on one trip after another with many missions abroad. During the past ten years, Alexandre has spent over half of his lifetime on the road discovering our planet and its populations (Japan, Australia, Burma, India, Nepal, Mongolia, Togo, Ghana, Russia, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, Morocco, Indonesia, Thailande, Cambodia, …).

During his several peregrinations, Alexandre always remained focused on sharing his life experiences, largely through photography.