The night before Christmas (at Sea)

I spent Christmas at sea with my mother… inasmuch as being in the Straits of Malacca is “out at sea”, bounded by Peninsula Malaysia and Sumatra as we were, the entire time. I haven’t been on the water for years, and these 2 days brought back old lives: shooting the Svitzer tug crews in Perth,…More

Stories of Hope from Iraq | Middle East Institute of Singapore

On 30 October this year, I had the honour of presenting at a virtual salon session hosted by the Middle East Institute of Singapore. On tap during my 45 minute talk were lots of photos — of course! — of Kurdistan, of the refugees and internally displaced people who are a part of my big…More

On privacy

The guilt I feel for invading people’s spaces with a camera. Not on assignment. It’s different, on assignment. Because that is a job, with a clear-cut purpose. I get in there, and work. But doing the same when I’m out shooting for myself? That’s another thing. I was thinking about this when writing the last…More

Ganesha Barber

Out on a photowalk the other day, a few of us walked by this old school barbershop and the guy in the blue mask (below) waved at us. So we went over to have a chat, and in the process, got invited inside the shop. I’m always surprised to find that people enjoy letting random…More

Homecoming

After 6 months of not shooting at all, what I’m mostly doing now, is taking pictures of light on surfaces. If that surface is a human, it makes for a better frame, but it doesn’t have to be. The creep of sunlight over texture is an everyday joy. I’ve spent half my life constantly moving…More

A moment

Listen Read You get that small window between growing twilight and the electric dawn: When the sun kisses concrete peaks and valleys, and shadows wait, shifting in their corners, to pounce. When the light is golden and thick like the air on your tongue and trails of sweat down your back. That is when. You…More

Bus stop

Singapore Uncle and aunty waiting for the bus. Years ago, pre-Covid-19, from a bus near home. I don’t remember where I was going. Coulda been down the road to the round market for Sarawak kolo mee, or a longer trip into town. This shot though? A stop away from where I’d boarded the bus. I…More

Heritage

Singapore 牛车水 / Kereta Ayer. Where water used to be delivered via bullock cart, hence the Chinese and Malay names for what is now known as Chinatown. It was formally designated a Chinese enclave by the colonial powers in the early 1800s, as there were already Chinese immigrants settled in the area, way before the…More

2017, Chinatown, Singapore

I was playing around with shutter speeds in the middle of Chinatown, that year. I didn’t see this lady smile and do the “twist!” thing until I loaded it up in the frame. “Twist!” is what I will forever know this gesture as. It was a time-out when you were playing catching (aka cops n…More

On blogging and social

Singapore, circa 2017 Different levels of excitement in Tampines interchange – the transport hub of our suburb. For a little while here I’m going to be posting the photos that go on my Instagram feed. I have a ton of photos in my archive, and Instagram is where most of them end up. It’s got…More