Nighttime Street Photography In What Will Become The World’s Biggest City

Jakarta is the perfect place for low-light street photography

When is your favourite time to see a city, daytime or nighttime? As someone who loves low-light street photography, there’s no prizes for guessing mine! In my previous post I’d found the camera mall I’d been looking for but it had taken a few hours so, by the time I’d left, the sun had already settled below the horizon.

Many of the businesses I’d walked past earlier were now closed and the staff hung around, waiting for their ride home.

Cat waiting for a taxi

As the day workers wound down, so the night workers began their shift, loading and unloading goods from scooters and trucks.

It’s not just the delivery people at work though. This being Asia, the street food vendors had cranked up their stoves and served food to the passing workers.

I’m guessing this guy was one of the many small goods traders, like a jewellery merchant, who lays his wares on a rug in an underpass, then packs them up in a number of bags before walking home.

Talking of underpasses, I’d mentioned these in the previous post and how they provide a safe-space from the chaos of the roads.

They make a great place for low-light photography, tucked away from bad weather but bright enough to not need a flash. In between the closed shutters, the odd shop remained open, casting colourful lights around its entrance.

As you can see from this set of photos, there was a lot of construction work in this area, which continued well into the night.

And some of the street traders hung around after-hours too. This particular stretch had many artists’ stalls during the day, a few of which remained open for business after hours.

It wasn’t intentional but I ended up capturing this construction worker a couple of times. I particular like his second appearance, clocked by a chap on a scooter.

If you remember, I had a fair few miles to get back to my hotel in the north of the city. Although Jakarta remains lively throughout the evening, I skirted the tourist areas and stuck to these underpasses, dodging between pillars and doorways. Moving around was a lot easier than it had been earlier.

Our hotel was located just north of Fatahillah Square, a pedestrianised tourist spot that comes alive at night. Of course I have a set of photos from my time there, but I’ll save that for another day.

Exhausted from the sweaty, urban ramble, it was time to exit the streets of what is set to become the largest city in the world.

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