The Mysterious Photograph

Almost every Indonesian knows the picture of Bung Tomo standing in front of a round microphone under a striped umbrella, his hand pointed at the sky, the sleeve of his uniform rolled to his elbow, eyes ablaze. This picture has been reproduced in numerous history textbooks. And it is easy enough to find the picture online: simply Google Bung Tomo, and hundreds of the same picture will appearwith or without Photoshop touches.

The picture is so iconic that every time the November 10 battle is commemorated, the picture is displayed. The photograph is often associated with the Battle of Surabaya itself, although no one seems to know for sure when and where the picture was taken, or who the photographer was. The only accurate information on the photo is that its negative belonged to the IPPHOS (Indonesia Press and Photo Service). "The IPPHOS photo collections rarely had complete photo credits," said Oscar Motuloh, head of the Antara Journalistic Photo Gallery (GFJA), which now owns most of IPPHOS's photographs.

November 10, 2015