Giovani Adrian
Simandjuntak
Indonesian travel photographer and storyteller. I document culture, terrain, and the quiet hours in between — across six continents, sixty-two countries, and one continuing journey.
Frame 01 — Rinjani ridge, sunrise · 35mm
The story so far
A child of an island country, raised by maps.
Giovani Adrian Simandjuntak was born in Medan and grew up between Jakarta and Lake Toba, where his grandfather — a retired sea captain — taught him to read charts before he could read books. That early literacy of latitude and longitude became a lifelong instinct.
After a brief career in architecture, Giovani left a Jakarta studio in 2013 with a Leica, a moleskine, and a one-way ticket to Ulaanbaatar. What started as a personal sabbatical has become more than a decade of continuous fieldwork — quiet, slow, and rigorously documented.
His work sits at the intersection of photojournalism and travel writing: visual reportage paired with grounded prose, often built around long residencies with the communities he photographs. He refuses parachute journalism. Most projects unfold over months.
Today his images are commissioned by tourism boards and editorial desks across three continents, but the project he is proudest of remains the same one he started in 2013 — a personal archive of the world's vanishing maritime cultures, told one harbour at a time.
Reykjavík · 2025
- Born
- Medan, ID · '89
- Based
- Reykjavík
- Agency
- Self-rep.
- Members
- RGS · IATG
§02 — In numbers
§03 — Selected expeditions
A ledger of where the work was made.
- 01 ／ 2024Bhutan — The Snowman Trek27 days · 5,320 m peak crossing Himalaya
- 02 ／ 2023Namib Skeleton CoastSolo overland · 2,180 km Africa
- 03 ／ 2023Greenland — Disko BayInuit fishing communities Arctic
- 04 ／ 2022Raja Ampat by sailboatPhinisi expedition · 19 days Indonesia
- 05 ／ 2021Patagonia — Carretera AustralMotorcycle traverse · Chile South America
- 06 ／ 2020Silk Road — UzbekistanSamarkand · Bukhara · Khiva Central Asia
"I'm not chasing places. I'm chasing the hour just before everyone wakes up — the harbour while the lamps are still on, the village before the bread arrives."
§04 — Practice
How we might work together.
Selective commissions, paired with a small number of independent projects each year.
Editorial photography
Long-form visual reportage for magazines, brands, and tourism boards.
Travel writing
Field journals and narrative essays grounded in lived experience.
Expedition consulting
Route design and on-ground logistics for ambitious independent travelers.
Speaking & workshops
Talks on photography, slow travel, and cross-cultural storytelling.
§05 — Recognition
Selected awards & fellowships.
- 2024Travel Photographer of the Year · Documentary shortlist
- 2023Royal Geographical Society · Neville Shulman Award
- 2022Sony World Photography Awards · Open Travel finalist
- 2021PX3 Paris · Gold · Editorial / Photo Essay
- 2019National Geographic Indonesia · Story of the Year
§06 — Get in touch
Have a story
worth chasing?
I take on a limited number of editorial commissions, brand partnerships, and private expeditions each year. The best way to reach me is by email — I read every message personally, usually within a week.
giovani@digitalit.id