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Category Archives: engagement

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

penghan & suhua

Posted in By Xinning, engagement

Suhua & Penghan are full of surprises.

One month before their big day, they decided to do an engagement shoot and she has yet to get her wedding dress. One week before the shoot, Suhua scraped her elbow while rock climbing and one day before, Penghan was running to Beyond the Vines to get the last dress in her size.

Posted in By Xinning, engagement
Thursday, September 12, 2019

amanda & nick

Posted in By Ivan, engagement



“Something that many people aren’t aware of is that statistically worldwide, miscarriage affects 1 in 4 women. This means that of all the women in our lives; family members, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, it is likely that there are some who have been through/are going through a miscarriage, and yet not many of us are aware of the pain and loss they’re experiencing. Maybe it’s because it’s taboo, too sad, too personal, or makes people feel uncomfortable. Either way, for something that affects so many women, worldwide and in Singapore, the topic of miscarriage has been too easily swept under the carpet and ignored, rather than being brought out into the open and discussed, which could bring understanding, comfort and healing to those who desperately need it.⁣
⁣
I am unfortunately, one of the 1 in 4.⁣”

– written by Amanda

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

I had a very challenging time photographing Amanda and Nick. It is not often that I am made to deal with grief in the photographic form.
It has also been a long time since I’ve felt so unsure about what I’m doing.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of this session, but I knew what I didn’t want.

1) I did not want to cheapen Amanda’s & Nick’s grief. I wanted to avoid photographs of them crying and looking sad. Instead, I envisioned the session as a space for them to work out their emotions about the situation.

2) I did not want sentimentality. Singaporeans are generally a sentimental bunch (myself included) and we often confuse being sentimental with being emotional. Emotions are raw and private. Sentiments are organised and expressed. Put in another way, emotions are invisible. The challenge was therefore – how do we give form to something that cannot be seen?

3) I did not want to photograph Amanda & Nick in definite, locked states. I wanted things to change for them. For the better. Even if that seemed like a remote possibility, I wanted to remind all of us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is not a sexy concept. But for anyone going through their own battles, hope, not strength, is the most important thing you need.

I don’t think I have entirely succeeded. I still detect traces of sentimentality, some locked states. But I thought the process was meaningful for me and hopefully for Amanda and Nick. Enough for me to look forward to my next shoot where I can hopefully operate with similar discomfort and uncertainty.



⁣

Posted in By Ivan, engagement
Thursday, May 9, 2019

justin & debbie

Posted in By Ivan, engagement

This year marks the 13th year I’ve shot weddings. I’ve been very fortunate to have superb mentors early on in my journey. They often taught me certain rules that did not make sense to me. For instance, the idea of how different lenses give your image different types of compression. An image shot with a 35mm lens and one shot with 85mm lens, despite being composed exactly the same way, gives us a completely different sensation.

Following rules blindly is very difficult for me. When I was 4, I asked my grandma if God exists. 27 years later, I am still asking the same question. But because my desire to become a world famous photographer was so great, I decided that if the rules didn’t kill me, I should just follow them.

Recently, I have a desire to go beyond these rules. I found many of these rules, while useful, are not penetrating deeply enough. I no longer want to be a world famous photographer. I want something different.

When I think of images that make a deep impact on me – the kind that haunts me in my sleep, as I shower, while I look at the sea, the mountains – they fulfil these rules and something else.

I am keen to investigate what this something else is about.

I keep returning to this memory I had when I was 19. I was backpacking Europe and found myself in Uffizi Gallery, Florence. I came across this incomplete painting:

Leonardo da Vinci - Adorazione dei Magi - Google Art Project.jpg

I was struck by how it grabbed hold of me in the gentlest way possible, and left my spellbound. I couldn’t stop looking at the lady in the middle even though she was not framed with a close-up. The people around her look troubled but yet rendered so beautifully. The tones are few but the palette is expansive. There were soft sounds reverberating outwards even though this was a painting. The energy of the painting was so abundant that it was able to spare me some. The weariness flowed away from my feet. I did not want to walk away. I wanted to be there forever. When I did walk away, I felt nourished and refreshed.

I thought to myself: This painting must be a gesture to reach out to God.

I don’t really have an answer for what it all means. But maybe God responded.

Posted in By Ivan, engagement
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