Akbar Makarti was born on the outskirts of Tamban, Central Kalimantan, and currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and three children. By day, he works for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on weekends, during commute or when not busy untangling the intricate web of bureaucracy, he finds time to pursue his love for photography. His work is inspired by observations of the everyday life around him and finds the creative process to be therapeutic and liberating.

Akbar mainly shoots with an Apple iPhone where his work has been featured on several prominent mobile photography websites, including EyeEm, Life in LoFi and We Are Juxt, among others. In 2013, his image For Ale won 1st Place in the Mobile Photography Awards in the Transportation category and two other images were selected to the Honorable Mentions list in the Black & White and Street Photography categories. Two of his images had also been named Honorable Mentions in the Street Photography category of the same competition in 2012.

Akbar co-founded Indonesian Street Mobile Photography (Istrie) in 2012, a Jakarta-based community for street photography enthusiasts that use their mobile devices as the photographic tool of choice.

Besides the iPhone, Akbar also shoots with the Olympus Mju II and Ricoh GR. Naturally, a camera is always with him.

To see more of his work, connect with Akbar on Instagram, EyeEm and Flickr.