Rahasia

Rahasia (meaning "secret" in Indonesian language) is a project that explores the reality of the Muslim homosexual community in Indonesia and Malaysia. The research focuses deeply on the moral dilemma faced by this group. They have to confront their sexual preferences and follow the religious rules at the same time. Moreover, I studied how new technologies and the Internet affect their way of living and interacting with people from the same group.

During a period of 5 months I photographed and interviewed 39 participants, contacted through online platforms such as Tinder or Grindr.

In these meetings, we created communication and understanding links. Therefore, we discussed about concepts such as religion, technology, dating applications, sexuality, family and the meaning of life and death.

This group is especially punished in the Islam, their freedom is limited and in some cases their life is under threat. For most Muslims their religion, community and family is more important than their own happiness. It is believed that having sex with people of the same gender is a serious sin.

The appearance of dating apps has helped enormously this collective. Nowadays, they can interact with others homosexuals in every level without risks and ensuring their anonymity.