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website : www.riohelmi.com
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Born in Europe in 1954 to an Indonesian diplomat father and a Turkish mother, Rio’s childhood and youth was spent living in the various countries where his father was posted as well as visiting many countries in Europe and Asia . At the age of 12 he was introduced to the darkroom by a family friend - the very first pictures he developed were of newly arrived Tibetan refugees in Switzerland. Thus the seeds of two very important elements in his life were planted!
After finishing school and spending a year in Bali in 1971, more voyages lay in store: Rio traveled across Asia on land, and lived in India for a year, eventually ending up back in Bali. During a 4 year stint in Australia in the mid 70’s the childhood interest in photography was rekindled, it was also during these years that his interest in Buddhism deepened. Rio moved back to Bali, Indonesia in 1978.
Since then Rio has been capturing images of Asia, constantly adding to a richly textured portfolio celebrating the region’s people and places. Bali and Buddhism have been the subject of his own personal ongoing projects. His work has been described as a “crossover from journalism to art”.
From 1978 to 1983, Rio worked as a photographer/writer and associate editor in the Indonesian media (Bali Post, Mutiara, Sinar Harapan). Most of the stories focused on isolated ethnic groups/remote tribes from around the Indonesian archipelago. From 1983, he has freelanced for many regional and international magazines (Asiaweek, Geo, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Times, Seven Seas, Tempo, Time, Vanity Fair, Vogue and others).
Shows of Rio’s still photography have been held in Bali, Jakarta, Madrid, Miyazaki, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Sydney.
Since the late ‘80s, Rio has been involved in book publishing. These include amongst others,
Borobudur, A Prayer in Stone (Times Ed., Singapore),Malaysia, Heart of SouthEast Asia (Ed. Didier Millet, Singapore
Offerings, the Ritual Art of Bali (INI, Bali)
Bali Style [Sole Photographer](Thames & Hudson, Times Ed., Singapore)
River of Gems, A Borneo Journal (INI, Bali)
Made in Indonesia (Equinox, Jakarta)
His two current ongoing personal projects are a retrospective of his work on Bali, “Memories of the Sacred” (projected publication October 2010), and one on Buddhism, “Inside the Great Vehicle”.
He has a gallery in Ubud, Bali exhibiting his personal work.
