About half a year ago, I remember having this conversation with my friend Natalia (who also does both psychology and photography), about how the photography hype has been dying down. Most of the photographers I met during insta-meets in Singapore have stopped shooting, in fact some feel like they've quit altogether. At first, I thought I was the only person who felt that way when my Instagram feed got more and more sparse. I was only seeing daily posts from a few friends. Then Yihong told me that he shared the same view, that most photographers he knew had already put down the camera.
This topic naturally came up because she too had noticed that there were a lot of photographers that she'd met in Singapore who stopped posting. It wasn't just Singapore that was facing this sudden decline in hype, it was all over the world.
To be honest, we both felt that it's a good thing. With the photography hype that boomed in 2014, a lot of photography trends started popping up too. While some helped to shape our creativity, these trends served as a mould that caged most of the photographers who jumped on the bandwagon.
From the Brandon Woelfel fairy lights trend, to the typical architecture shots, and then the f/1.8 portraits where background or concepts did not matter. Not forgetting the lace cloths, laundromats, minimalism, the leaf covering the face, the arcade, the reflection, the prism, the bathtub, the diner, the rooftops, and more fairy lights. And when these people wanted to "get out of their comfort zone", they would thrift a cheap film camera and take some shitty street shots, and claimed it to be street photography. They really did Henri-Cartier Bresson dirty.
It came to a point where everything seemed to be exhausted, every photo that you saw was one of the above. There was no longer any creativity in modern day photography. When asked for a concept, photographers threw out an option from above and expected it to be called a concept. There was no mood, no story behind the photographs. That said, a single reference photo cannot be considered a concept too, just wanted to put it out there.
Don't get me wrong, when I was starting out, I did my fair share of these. But I realised that this was not the photography I wanted to pursue, I wanted photographs that would make people feel something, that would tell a story. Probably because of the photojournalist in me.
But after all these trends were used, everyone got bored and sick of seeing them. Even the photographers themselves. None of these photographers tried to improve their craft, or hone their creativity. They only saw what was on Instagram, and limited their visions to just that. Even when the world had so much more to offer, from Henri-Cartier Bresson (the Grandfather of street photography) to the different magazines (e.g. Kinfolk), to Hamada Hideaki, to Nguan (Singapore's best street photographer).
But I don't blame them. They were only using photography to try and chase fame (and for some, girls). Seriously, the amount of photographers that tried to touch their models under the premise of a shoot was so damn high. But that's another topic for another day. When no new trends could be found, and when they got sick of their own work because they were just shooting the same thing over and over and pasting the same edits on every photo, they finally quit.
The ones who truly enjoyed photography, sought inspirations from outside of Instagram. Some searched for Japanese photographers who had developed the "everyday life" style. Some followed the Koreans who made boudoir their own. There were those who did concepts one could never have imagined before.
So me and Natalia had this discussion, that the sudden death in the photography scene was for the better. Without the trends that plagued the photography scene, photographers could challenge themselves and come up with original concepts and we could hear the stories about how these concepts were birthed.
Another reason, was that all these "fake" photographers, for the sake of exposure, would do free shoots for companies, or events that were not supposed to be free. This made it hard for the actual photographers who were making a living out of this. Nat has a ton of stories for this where she educates "influencers" who think they should have free shoots. But with all the fakes gone, companies have no choice but to pay the photographers for their shoots.
In fact, I've benefited from it as well. Thanks to my friend Rachel, two paid jobs came my way. And thanks to Rouying, a musician also approached me to help him take photos for his Spotify and whatnot. All of which, can be viewed on my Instagram.
Side note, but Nat is also the one who made me realise how much I was worth as a photographer. She's the reason why I was confident enough to charge a high rate. To quote her, "if you want me, pay me". If they approach you, it means they value your work, so don't be afraid to give them a high rate. Of course, Michelle has often told me that if somebody asks to work with me, then it means they like my style, but I never equated that with paid jobs. When money is involved, it gets a bit pressurising because I may do a bad job and my reputation may go down. But Nat made me realise that it was all the same, and that I was good enough to be paid the rate I choose to offer.
So yes, the photography scene has died down by a lot in Singapore. So much so, that the number of friends that I know that are still shooting constantly can be counted with two hands. But it's not a bad thing, because now, more than ever, we can see original works. More inspiring photographs.
On that note, let me give you a few photographers (who are also my friends) that are worth following. Just click the names to bring yourself to their Instagrams:
@natalianaa
First on the list is of course, Natalia. She's taught me so much over the course of the two years plus that I've known her. She's the photographer I would definitely want for my wedding, without a doubt. She does an amazing job with boudoir, so if you're in Melbourne and want to try boudoir, she's your go to photographer.
@jst.elvin
Next up is Elvin. He's the guy that makes Singapore look nothing like Singapore. The j in jst stands for Japanese, because he really makes Singapore look like Japan. His edits have improved so much since I first met him, and it's insane.
@chenhan_photography
Chenhan is like a teacher to me when it comes to photography. He taught me how to find the best angles for models, and even gave some technical tips when it comes to achieving film-like looks. He's really the guy that has mastered film-edits, you won't be able to differentiate what is digital and what is film on his feed.
@dillon_photogs
Dillon's a real bro in the industry. He does really unconventional editorial photos, whether it's the props he use, or the posing. I really love his Lepak series, which you can see on his Instagram, because it really captures the Singapore lepak spirit. He even adds his own words to the photos, making them look like they're actual magazines when they're not.
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