Sometimes the day job gets me a good shot

After nearly 4 years working mostly on my own, readjusting to having a day job can be frustratingly difficult. I am still in the “getting there” phase, and am working towards sorting all that out. In the meantime, here’s one shot I kinda like, taken while I was working the day job.

© 2014 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.

Not too shabby, while I’m (still) working on Nisshi Vol. V. It’s coming soon, I promise.


Quote of the Day

I read Joel Meyerowitz’s interview by Blake Andrews yesterday, and thought I’d write about it the next day; perhaps unsurprisingly John Sypal also picked up the same bit that I was interested in, namely, the following answer:

“…we have seen far too many examples of photographers playing point-counterpoint with signage interacting in an ironic or humorous way with pedestrian traffic. We have also seen a more aggressive brand of in your face work in the style of Bruce Gilden, which is a punishing assault on innocent people all for the look of shock on their faces.” — Joel Meyerowitz

I think that accounts for a lot of my distaste for what is passed around as “street photography” today——overused tropes, tired cliches, and worse, a pervasively underdeveloped aesthetic sense. Some prefer to take Robert Capa’s “not close enough” quote too literally and have nothing to show other than photos of people looking surprised.

Most of it is boring and uninteresting.

There should be a limit to copying the “masters”, and when your photos always look like someone else’s, perhaps the limit has been breached. Your photos are supposed to be your own, in every way possible; channeling someone, no matter how good that someone is, is a sign you might want to get another hobby.

Disclaimer: I don’t consider myself a “street photographer”, even though I’ve used that term on-and-off, mainly to explain what I’m doing to someone who isn’t familiar with photography, so take it however you will.


[NSFW] Another art nude? Why, yes. And some updates.

Anita De Bauch, Singapore, 2014. © 2014 Callan Tham.

No matter how much I try other “sub-genres” within the photographic nude variety, I gravitate back to art nudes. It’s something that has a natural appeal to me, especially when one has the opportunity to work with someone like Anita.

I’m still working on another set of photos that have already taken too long (Apologies, Priscilla!), and once that is done, I’ll focus more on the ones I’ve taken, plus the final edit of Nisshi Vol. V, and pick up an ongoing conversation with John Sypal, one of my favourite photographers. It’s a fair bit to do, in between juggling my day job, family commitments, and a bad back, but I’ll get to it.


[NSFW] More fun on a Sunday than I imagined

The fashion nudes workshop on Sunday was a lot of fun, more fun than I imagined. Massive thanks to all the participants, Ben, James, Mark and Patrick, you guys were attentive and brought your own interpretations to the fore; I’m looking forward to seeing your finished photographs soon!

I also want to thank Anita, who supported the participants well with her communications, posing, her overall energy and professionalism. I don’t think I’ve ever had a disappointing shoot with her ever. Here’s a preview of what we shot prior to the workshop:

Anita De Bauch, Singapore, 2014. © 2014 Callan Tham.

That went right into my portfolio. More to come, right after I clear my backlog of work :)

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