I just knew what I wanted and went ahead with it.

Believe me when I say that I never really know what I was doing. I just knew what I wanted and went ahead with it.

I got my first camera, which I kept a secret from my dad, at age 18. My mum, who was an accomplice and also my main bank account holder, was asked to transfer a certain amount of money to my personal account. I went to an IT fair with two friends to purchase my first Canon G12. I don’t think I have felt that happy with any purchase.

Fast forward four years, I won’t lie but tell you that I truly enjoy what I’m doing. I do not know exactly what it is, but it feels right. I believe every single one of us has a path that we are chosen to take and this is mine.

It certainly helps when you have a supportive family. Not the typical support you can expect though. If you were to ask my family what I do exactly, I’m quite sure the answers will vary. They may say that I am a university student with part time jobs, which is partially true. My dad always makes the time to listen to the projects I’m doing and sees the photos and never fails to give feedback.

I have always been driven by new sights. Singapore is small but is filled with many neighbourhoods. Seeing a new environment or a new neighbourhood from a ‘foreign pair of eyes’ is definitely different compared to someone who grown up in that building or area. Being able to capture them from my perspective and sharing them with my friends on social media (particularly Instagram) invokes curiosity and creates conversations. People will ask “Hey where is this?” or “I know this place!”.

How these trips work usually are mostly by curiosity and expecting nothing. Most of them happen by luck and intuition. When a housing block has an open corridor on it, it is 50% settled that you might find something beautiful. Yes, there have been instances where it was tough to capture any beauty but the joy of going to a new place is something that excites me.

My love for exploring has no limits. I will take note of potential blocks or areas that have a corridor for me to get an overview of the sight and visits them during my free time. The idea of a knitted community and how corridors work have always amazed me. Always have and most probably always will. I guess photography is a fast and easy way of documentation that is quite hassle-free.

However, for an open topic/concept in a school's module last year, I took that opportunity to do a three part neighbourhood project that consists of moving images/stills, sound and visuals. The result of a semester’s worth of work was a series of 100 images of doors and two videos.

I guess photography as a medium is a powerful tool to capture a special moment and as we know, with great practice come great responsibility. I have always been keen about the composition and the right timing to capture an image. My subjects have been primarily still objects such as hdb buildings but on the sideline, I was fortunate to have been asked to photograph for people too. In two years, I am humbled to have done a couple of group sessions and my favourites are outdoor photography for couples. When tasked to photograph for couples, I enjoy challenging myself to think of new concepts and using the skills I’ve garnered over the years. It is always an enjoyable learning process each time.

I guess photographing and sharing these sights and perspective with others is The Best of Me.