As part of my fieldwork for my Masters of Arts and Community Practice, we took a journey to Yogyakarta, Indonesia to visit a number of groups and organizations working in and around community, arts, cultural heritage and others. We were privileged to experience song and dance traditions from various regions of Indonesia and connected with local students at an arts institution. I was struck by the hospitality of everyone I met during my trip. With tea, homemade snacks and fruit, conversations were warm, intimate and inviting.

Each person in the program chose different methods to experience and record fieldwork: some taking detailed notes, others creating artworks. My intervention was through visual fieldwork through photography. I used my camera to capture the experience of being in Yogyakarta, on our journey, by showcasing the people, environment, hospitality, art and feelings of the places we went through my photography. In addition to our fieldwork, we also presented on a topic of research from our fieldwork masters class. Each of us had been exploring topics relevant to our own practice, and mine was regarding digital privacy in online spaces. Using Instagram, Facebook, Flickr and others as examples, I explored privacy policies and discussed how ‘free’ on the web comes at other costs, including your own intellectual property rights. I argued that while free services are widely available and have great advantages, it is important to understand who owns our work and data when we choose to interact on those networks. This is particularly important in my practice, as I share much of my work through online means, and rely on existing infrastructures to do so. As a creative and community technologist, I need to be aware of the implications of using ‘off the shelf’ solutions, such as Flickr, Google Drive, etc, and in what situations they can be useful. It is part of my practice to explore and understand the space of digital privacy and digital ownership.

My experience in Indonesia was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that has had a deep impact on my career and practice. It has broadened my perspective of community and culture and provided endless inspiration for my work moving forward. I learned how to communicate across language and cultural barriers and grew into my own as a photographer during this journey. I invite you to read my Master’s exegesis, which explores my time in Indonesia and unpacks the concerns about digital privacy in more depth.