I had a business trip to Indonesia, and while looking at the required documents for the visa application – a scan of my passport ID page, flight tickets, and a passport photo – I didn’t think much of it, assuming it was standard. But then I noticed something specific about the photo: “passport photo with a red background”… A red background?
Someone else on the trip tried to prepare their own photo by taking it with a white background and then digitally changing it to red, but the outline looked weirdly prominent, so it didn’t work. We decided to go to a photo studio near the office that’s used to taking visa photos for various countries, and we went there right away.
Maybe because we had a reservation, there was a really strange setup with a chair placed in front of a red cloth. And apparently, for an Indonesian visa photo, not only should the background be red, but it’s also better to wear a collared shirt with a tie and a jacket. So, I borrowed a tie and a jacket and had my photo taken.
And the finished photo was indeed an ID photo with a completely red background… It turned out way too peculiar!
I wonder if it’s related to the colors of the Indonesian flag… Now that I think about it, even in Japan, driver’s license photos have a light blue background, which is also a bit odd if you really think about it. So maybe it’s just one of those rules. But seriously, seeing myself in a photo with a completely red background is so unfamiliar, it just makes me laugh.
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