Seiko x Nathan-Tjoe-A-On

Some productions feel like work. This one felt like a good day out with people you trust, that also happened to produce three campaign images for one of the world's most storied watch brands.

The setup was a shared one. Seiko brought us in alongside a TVC production helmed by Luthfi Adi Putranto of Studio Senang Karya (a director and a friend) which meant the day had two crews, one talent, and a schedule that required genuine coordination between both sides. We each had our windows. When the TVC team was rolling, we stepped back. When our turn came, the set was ours.

Three layouts. A football stadium as the backdrop. Stands, pitch, open sky. Nathan Tjoe-A-On at the centre of all of it.

Nathan carries something that not every athlete brings to a still camera: genuine composure. He's used to being watched, to performing under pressure, to holding himself a certain way when the moment counts. On set, that translated directly. The kit shot, laced boots, grass underfoot, gaze fixed somewhere beyond the frame, required almost nothing from me in terms of direction. He already knew how to be still in a way that reads as readiness. The suited layout, shot against a golden hour sky, asked for a different register and he found it just as naturally. The watch, in both cases, sat on the wrist of someone who made it feel earned rather than placed.

Between setups, we waited. But waiting alongside friends, Luthfi's crew moving around us, familiar faces, the easy rhythm of people who've worked together before — meant the gaps disappeared. Nobody was watching the clock. The irony of that, on a Seiko shoot, was not lost on us.

We wrapped before sunset. Everyone went home happy. That's the kind of production day you remember not just for what came out of it, but for what it felt like to be there.

- Arza Nursatya, advertising photographer. HIRA Imaji, Jakarta