I picked up photography as a hobby a little over three years ago after being inspired by various photography accounts I saw on social media. I started off with an iPhone 4, simply snapping away randomly and following whatever the trendy shot was. I knew absolutely nothing about photography, but what I did know was that I enjoyed the very process of taking photos. There was something about clicking the shutter button that captivated me. It drew me in more and more each day.
In my second year
of Poly, I was lucky enough to study a short 6 weeks long module on
photojournalism. It was this very module that fueled my enthusiasm in
photography and changed my way of taking photographs for good. I was introduced
to street photography and documentary photography officially here, and it was
also where my lecturer introduced the DigitalRev TV channel to us so that we
could learn more on our own. It was at this point in my life where I loved the
saying of "beauty can be found in the everyday mundane", and even
until today, I still live by that quote. It changed the way I saw things from
then on.
Following the end
of my photojournalism module, I spent hours each day watching DigitalRev TV
videos for the months to come. That was when I slowly grew more and more
interested in not just photography but cameras as well. I discovered a side of
myself that I never knew that I had - an ultra geeky side. I watched reviews
after reviews, and learned some basic information about cameras (both useful
ones and not so useful ones). From DSLRS to mirrorless to film cameras, I found
myself becoming more enthusiastic about this form of art. I also spent almost
everyday taking photos on the street with my trusty iPhone 4. It just so
happened that there was a free class on Skillshare by street photographer,
Trashhand on street photography. I signed up for it and decided to learn more
about street photography, given that it was what I was most interested in at
that point of time.
After about 6
months, I decided that I wanted to get a DSLR as my passion for photography and
cameras grew. Using DRTV's videos, I did my research on the different cameras.
Eventually, I settled on the Nikon D5500 as there was no need for a full frame
camera for a hobbyist. Budget was much more important. And besides, to quote
Zack Arias, "the difference between a crop sensor and a full frame is
negligible".
But of course, not
knowing anything about the exposure triangle, I didn't know how to use my
camera at all. My dad (who used to be a photographer) had to come in and teach
me what ISO, shutter speed, and aperture were, and how they set the exposure. I
could have taken the easy route and went with full auto, but being the
enthusiastic kid I was, I wanted to learn the art properly. I went out on the
streets and adjusted the settings constantly according to the amount of light,
so that I could master the exposure settings.
I was only
interested in street photography for the longest time, learning from the works
of Henri Cartier Bresson, Erik Kim, Nguan, etc. That was until I tried film for
the first time. My dad had repaired his old Nikon FM2 recently, so I thought
I'd buy a roll of film and played around with it. Usually, people get film
cameras to shoot on the street. But for me, since I only had that 36 shots, I
did not want to waste it on street shooting. These were photos that would be
printed after all. I didn't want to have any mis-shots. Hence, I used it mainly
for portraits. It was an entirely different territory from street photography,
which is to say, it wasn't in my comfort zone. I was unable to really take any
good portraits since I was used to street photography, and it felt really
discouraging. Yet at the same time, I felt compelled to do better. It was like
a challenge to myself to become better at portraiture photography. I sought
inspirations from Kinfolk magazines, Nirav Patel, Hideaki Hamada, and Benjamin
Heath. These are photographers whom I deeply admire them for their portraits.
There are without a doubt much more amazing portrait photographers out there,
but these are my top three portrait photographers. They each have their own
style of taking portraits, and I learned to the best of my abilities from
looking through their photographs.
Before long, I
slowly shifted away from street photography and more towards portraiture. The
shift was almost natural, as if it was meant to happen eventually. However,
that doesn't mean I've forgotten my roots in street photography /
photojournalism. I still apply the rules of "beauty in the everyday mundane"
and the element of documenting in my portraits up to today, and I will continue
to apply them in the future.
I'd never thought
of pursuing photography as anything more than a hobby. But after two to three
years of taking photos, a small desire has lit up in my heart. I want to become
a professional photographer in the future. I'm not sure what kind, but it'll
most likely be related to portraiture. The path I'm trying to embark on would most probably be a rough one, and I'm unsure of what the future holds for me, so I'm just going to take life one step at a time and see if I will ever get there.
