Photographer, Chalid Nasution is a native of Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia dedicated to documenting mainly news, commercial and humanitarian projects.

His career started almost a decade ago as a daily desk photographer with local newspaper, Realitas Daily. He later spent four years as a stringer for the Associated Press and in 2008, joined Medan Bisnis Daily as photo editor.

He has toured Indonesia’s Aceh province to document various aspects on tourism in the newly restored region. His work can be found in the book Tourism Aceh published by the Body for Reconstruction and Reconciliation (BRR) Aceh- Nias.

An avid traveler, he journeyed to Nepal in 2009 for the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) to document conflict issues in the South Asian nation where he also provided training in photography for members of the organisation. His work on the political crisis in Nepal was published through Zuma Press which he currently freelances for and he has also contributed work to Australian newspaper, The Advertiser.

On the commercial front, he has provided photography for oil and mining firms, hotel chains and up-and-coming musicians in Indonesia.

Chalid graduated with a Bachelor of Social and Political Science from North Sumatra University, where he majored in Communication Science and Journalism. In 2008, he helmed four awards including First Prize in the Wild Places Category, for the Asian Without Borders Photo Contests by Asean Geographic magazine. His work was also placed as one of the Top 20 Best Pictures by environmental organisation, Green Fins in Bangkok. A year later, he was awarded first prize in the Professional Category for the ASEAN Biodiversity Photo Challenge. Then in 2010, he clinched Third Prize at the Indonesian Press Photo Awards, Photo Essay category.

Alongside lecturing and developing photo essays, he also contributes stock photography various local and international agencies including Redux. As a strong advocate of education, Chalid promoted training in photography during his term as Chairman of Indonesian Photo Journalists (PFI), Medan Chapter. From 2007 to 2009, he pioneered projects which allowed photojournalists in the organisation to train undergraduates through photo workshops.

Born in 1982, Chalid has also extended his love for visual documentation through moving images. In 2009, he began filming news reportages for Singapore-based regional broadcaster, Channel News Asia (MediaCorp Pte. Ltd).

A literature enthusiast, he enjoys the works of Jalalluddin Rumi, and Indonesian authors, Gunawan Muhammad and Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

He is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia, English, and studied conversational Japanese during his time as a student where he earned a diploma in Japanese Literature.