Thu 4 Feb 2021 21.35 EST
Last modified on Thu 18 Feb 2021 07.27 EST
It was 8pm on one of the busiest intersections in western Jakarta. Three men in metallic paint from head to toe stood on the footpath. Each was holding a silver can.
Alfan, 25, was one. When the light turned red, he walked in silence, barefoot, and stood in front of the stopped traffic. He bowed deeply for a few seconds and then struck a pose like a statue: standing straight, he raised his right hand to his temple and gave a salute in silence for about a minute without blinking.
A man with silver paint on his body, also known as a‘silverman’, begging for money on a street in, Jakarta. Photograph: Gemma Holliani Cahya