Photographer captures the disturbing faces of Jakarta's monkey street performers as the government pushes to outlaw the tradition

They may have the faces of dolls, but the subjects in these photos are very much alive.



In a series called 'A Kind of You' Finnish photographer Perttu Saksa documents the disturbing world of Jakarta's monkey street performers, who are led around on chain leashes by handlers and trained to wear human masks in a sad streets shows.

The monkeys are trained to walk on their back legs, wear dresses and cowboy hats and ride bikes - but their condition as slaves is made even more deplorable by their disturbingly humanoid faces.



'Modern city culture has turned the old tradition [into an] eerie and haunting act of cruel street theater where animals become something else, never able to reach our expectations,' the photographer explained on his website.

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The face of animal slavery: Macaque monkeys in Jakarta are led on a leash by handlers while being forced to wear doll masks in street performances Trained: In addition to wearing masks, the monkeys are dressed up in costume and taught to perform tricks like riding bikes A Kind of You: Finnish photographer Perttu Saksa documented the dark underworld of the monkey business in Jakarta for his series 'A Kind of You'

Haunting: Saksa describes the tradition as a 'haunting act of cruel street theater'

According to Femke den Haas of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, there are about 350 monkeys who work as street performers in Jakarta but thankfully the practice is on its way out.



Jakarta's Governor Joko Widodo ordered that all roadside monkey performances be banned by next year.



While animal rights groups have been championing for the end of the tradition, the governor cited health issues as one of the main concerns.



Hundreds: There are an estimated 350 macaque monkeys in Jakarta working as street performers

Home: The monkeys are trained in Jakarta's eastern slums where they are kept in small cages by their owners in a place called 'monkey village'



Outlawed: Thankfully, the tradition is on its way out. Jakarta's governor announced that the street performances would be banned by next year

Widodo has offered owners $90 for each monkey, as well as free training for owners and handlers to help them get a new job.



The confiscated monkeys are being transferred to a 1-hectacre sanctuary.



Roundups are already happening in Jakarta's eastern slums where the animals are kept in small cages and trained in a place known as 'monkey village'.



Sarinah, a 37-year-old monkey-owner told the Associated Press last month that the ban was hurting her livelihood. Already, seven of her macacques have been taken from her.



Reward: As part of the scheme to get the monkeys off the street, the government is offering $90 for each street performer

Training: Handlers and owners will also get the opportunity to receive free training courses to learn the skills to start a new job

A better life: The confiscated monkeys are being taken to a 1-hectacre sanctuary



What now? But many monkey owners are still not pleased at the sudden loss of business

'Of course I'm disappointed...but I cannot do anything!' she said.



Sarinah added that she takes good care of her monkeys, and loves them as if they were her own children.



'They are the source of our life, how could we be cruel to them? No way,' she said. Sarinah estimates that she earns about $3 a day from each monkey she rents out to handlers.



Because of the ban, she has resorted to keeping the rest of her monkeys in hiding.



But others in Jakarta are welcoming the new ban.



'The performance is not entertaining at all, it is abusive,' South Jakarta resident MK Wirasaputra told the Wall Street Journal.

Underground: One monkey-owner said seven of her macaques had already been confiscated and she's now hiding the rest