Seni Ludruk Dalam Bingkai Fotografi

Abstract

A photojournalist is always required to be able to capture important moments or events. Those moments are framed into a picture that becomes source information that is useful for the public. In doing so, a photo must represent the happening event and thus, its authenticity is needed. A series of photographs of documentation essays called Seni Ludruk Irama Budaya in frame is evident in which a photographer should be able to convey the situations faced by the traditional theatre culture among society in this modern era. A photojournalist named Fendi Siregar created his essay photo works that clearly show a life of seni ludruk artist – Irama Budaya. This study aims at analysing photo documentary uploaded on Fendi Siregar’s Facebook page and focuses on analysing the meaning represented in his photos in order to know how much his works can influence and be useful to the public. This study employs Roland Barth’s theory of Semiotics to analyse signs as the generation of meaning in Irama Budaya’s ludruk essays through the analysis of denotation, connotation, myth, and ideology. Furthermore, a qualitative method is employed to examine another meaning that is not measured mathematically. Thus, this qualitative method is used to get an in-depth understanding in analysing the meaning of Irama Budaya’s ludruk essays. Based on the denotation and connotation analysis, the finding shows that the photo documentaries represent the situation of the traditional theatre culture from all aspects such as its uniqueness, tragedy, etc. Meanwhile, the presentation of signs, symbols, and body languages create denotation meaning that represents the artists’ belief in the existence of ludruk and the idea of making the culture popular among society. Furthermore, from the myth aspect, the concepts of love and eagerness in fighting for the traditional culture in the globalization era appear.