by Ricky Siegers 

This year the government of Indonesia likes to promote Toba to the world since Toba is not quite familiar for the international people.

For more information, FAQ and entries, click  here 

It is my pleasure to share this story.
But first let me tell you about TOBA, according to wikipedia,

is a large natural lake occupying the caldera of a super volcano. The lake is about 100 kilometres long, 30 kilometres wide, and up to 505 metres (1,666 ft) deep. Located in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with a surface elevation of about 900 metres (2,953 ft). It is the largest lake in Indonesia and also the largest volcanic lake in the world.

Lake Toba is the site of a massive super volcanic eruption estimated at VEI 8 that occurred 69,000 to 77,000 years ago, representing a climate-changing event. It is the largest known explosive eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years. According to the Toba catastrophe theory, it had global consequences for human populations; it killed most humans living at that time and is believed to have created a population bottleneck in central east Africa and India, which affects the genetic make up of the human worldwide population to the present.

Toba is famous with his nature beauty and reach culture, and off course this is become one of hot destination in Indonesia.  “Toba Nauli” means “Beautiful Toba” in the local language. 

For the first time this year, there is a photo contest and exhibition featuring this beautiful area.

The Toba Nauli Photo Contest & Exhibition is one of the biggest photography events which will put in the spotlights all the beautiful elements of lake Toba. This event is held by the H3 community and is officially supported  by Minister of Tourism. The Toba Nauli Photo Contest & Exhibition 2017 is open to all photographers ranging from beginner to advanced. This contest will promote the high value of Lake Toba as a world tourism destination.

After the 150 finalist photos are selected they will be exhibited in one of the most beautiful and prestigious museums in Jakarta: Museum Mandiri.

During the exhibition, there will be a photo workshop organised by Ricky Siegers , Nicolas Marino  and Aryono Huboyo Djati.  First 2 names are quite well known on 1x and they will gladly share their knowledge with the participants.

Ricky, Nicolas & Aryono are the main curators who will judge the finalist photos.

The preselections will be done by other curators and yes some of them are also well known on 1x. They are young and emerging talented photographers: Hardijanto Budiman , Hengki Lee , Moses Stell  and Firman Maulana.

Our hope is that 1x members will participate in this contest.  If you have a winning picture of Toba, it will get a huge recognition and will be presented nation wide in Indonesia and internationally. If you ever visited this place and have pictures from the Lake, from the people and their culture, don't hesitate to enter. Or maybe if you are planning a trip to Indonesia, you can put Toba as one of your destinations.

Please find included some pictures of Toba. 

I will gladly write a new report for the 1x Magazine after the exhibition where I will share the experience of the curation the process from choosing the winning pictures until the day when they are exhibited in the Museum Mandiri.

Ricky Siegers.