Need to make more portraits

I’ve been out of commission for a while; as it turns out, breaking a toe can be a real downer. It’s healed for the most part, though the occasional twinges remain disconcerting, a throbbing reminder of middle age. I’ve managed to photograph a model since then, and there will be more photos soon.

Roarie, Singapore, 2016. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.

In the meantime, here is one of Roarie taken last year. Few things tickle my fancy more than straightforward portraiture—whatever honesty I can wring out of myself and my subject that makes it click in my head, and hopefully, it does the same for the person I worked with.

Plus, it’s in black and white, and a square format. What’s not to like?


Sara Scarlet circa 2015

Censored SFW version; full uncensored photo below.

A quick photo post while I work my momentum up again, no thanks to some unfortunate events. More soon. This photo of Sara was taken after our workshop a couple of years ago, and it’s aged rather well. She’ll be back for another trip soon, and I’m working on details for another workshop, so stay tuned.

Sara Scarlet, Singapore, 2015. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.


Nisshi Vol. V now available

After 3 long years, I’ve finally finished Nisshi Vol. V; it’s now available for free digital download at MagCloud, or if you wish to support my work, you can purchase printed copies for US$15 each. Previously I brought in printed copies for sale, but I figured I don’t intend to make money from this and all I wanted was to get the work out, so it’s less stressful thinking about costs this way. 

For those who use the MagCloud app, you can find and view it in the app itself. The rest of us will have to be satisfied with the PDF e-zine which can be viewed from practically any device. I’d recommend a laptop or a larger screen than a phone, but it shouldn’t matter. 

I’ve got plenty of material for at least a couple more volumes, and it shouldn’t take me another 3 years to publish the next one, knock on wood. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy it.

Singapore, 2013. From Nisshi Vol. V. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.


Brief blog update

It’s been a while since I last shot art nudes. Or portraits for that matter. I have plans to remedy that soon enough. Photography is one of those things that require practice, as often as possible, and before the rust sets in I better get to it.

Anita de Bauch, Singapore, 2014. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.

A workshop with one of my favourite models is being planned for July, and maybe a short trip away with the chaps. More news soon, I promise. Meanwhile I’ve got a big family dinner to plan for this weekend, so wish me luck! 

(Also, NSFW photo of Ivory Flame below. It’s a pretty good one.)

Ivory Flame, Singapore, 2016. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.


“I only shoot naked women now”*

That is a running joke among my friends—I do post a fair bit of art nude work, but that wasn’t why I started photography to begin with, nor have I forgotten the reason—and it’s to keep myself curious

Singapore, 2015. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.

How did that flower end up on the rain-soaked floor? What does it feel like, when you’re meant to be a part of happiness in a bundle, only to get left behind with a snuffed cigarette butt (which isn’t mine, just to be clear)? If those are questions, I have no answers—just an instinct to take a photograph and resist the urge to explain anything.

I can’t explain this photo or why I took it:

Singapore, 2016. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.

Nor this photo:

Singapore, 2016. © 2017 Callan Tham. All rights reserved.

It’s what I saw and felt. It felt right at the time. It doesn’t matter. All these are moments in lives that we feel compelled to place as much or as little meaning on, stories that may or may not exist; but these photos exist, and in a way, proves that I have lived.

That’s enough for me. More to come.


* Obviously a joke.


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