The Artist

Marius Moragues is an adventurer and fine art photographer currently based in Indonesia, but is originally from France. His hometown is Carcassonne, a picturesque town with a rich history, famous for its medieval fortress, La Cité de Carcassonne.

One may think that growing up with such a captivating structure as a daily backdrop would provide all the inspiration a photographer would need—but Marius became intrigued by the places and stories that could be seen in the faces of Asia.

It is on September 1st, 2015, during his gap year, and after traveling to most other Southeast Asian countries that Marius touched down Indonesia for the first time.

He got welcomed and introduced to the Indonesian culture by one of his now best friends, Lukman Tanjung, whom he met through the social website workaway.info as part of a cultural exchange and volunteering experience in Jambi, South Sumatra.

The serendipitous encounter of the young French man with these island peoples—particularly endowed with an endearing and hospitable personality—would create very strong bonds and make the artist’s soul vibrate. He immediately felt a strong connection with the locals and a special human energy different from previously visited Southeast Asian countries which he couldn't explained with words.

Then backpacker, it was in Lukman’s city, during the course of a mere one-month-long visit that French photographer Marius Moragues would fall in love little by little with Indonesia's people and their culture. He kept delaying the return to his home country, France, indefinitely, and settled in Jakarta by the end of 2015.

It is during the eve of 2017 that the young French man brought a unusual attention to his existence, giving him an opportunity to deeply ponder on his life’s purpose. The cliché thoughts—“If others can do it, then I can, too”; “What would you do if you knew you would not fail?”—were enough for Marius to have his breakthrough in photography.

Self-taught, it is over the course of his travels that Marius has begun developing a following and a reputation for his portraits, which is growing.

Absolutely passionate about human beings, his work is strongly driven by the relationships of his encounters. Unlike most photographers, Marius loves to spend time with the people he meets, and build a special bond with them before capturing their expression through his camera.

For Marius, photography is just a tool to better express himself and share messages in order to inspire his audience but also a way to pay tribute to the people of Indonesia for all they have been giving him.

The accumulation of his portraits and travel experiences has gathered the attention of renowned nationwide media such as National Geographic Indonesia, Kompas, TheJakartaPost, and IDN Times to name a few.

His photographic vision and project, translated as Imperfect Frame has been supported by Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism since 2018 among many others including Steinberg Protocol and TAUZIA Hotels.

The project aims to portray the uniqueness of the nation’s hospitality and rich ethnic culture while introducing to Western countries its own dimension of happiness found among the people who had the least.

As of today, the artist has traveled extensively in the country and has been documenting the archipelago taking over 50,000 photographs and traveling more than 20,000 km by motorbike since the beginning of the project. His photo book's first volume, Beyond Java, was released in 2020.

Since June 2022, Marius has opened his first fine art photo gallery in Bali, Ôde à l'Indonésie, receiving positive feedbacks from the public, including West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.

He is set to continue his decade-long project by exploring the island Bali in 2023 for the release of his highly anticipated second volume, Beyond Bali.