A Winding Path

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.