Committee Picks: Youth Category

Caption
People come and go throughout our lives. Stories are left behind by those who have moved on and new beginnings await for those who we cross paths with. They are the ones who make me who I am today. This is my story.

The colours on the hands represent the memories and stories each person holds dear to. Waiting to share, create and leave with someone else.

Inspirations

• Tell us more about what inspired your entry?
  My entry was inspired by this one common experience most people would encounter or go through at least once in their lifetime; when someone special to you comes and goes. I wanted to capture this story into photos that depicts such a meaning, to relate to others, and to tell others that we are all in this together and it is part of growing up.
  
  Helping others going through hard seasons is something I always loved to do, and I would always want my work to inspire and help many others alike.


• How does your entry connect to you personally to the theme This Is My Story?
  My entry connects to me dearly as part of growing up. At the age of 17, I am still in the stages and processes of growing up. One key experience for me is the people who come and go from our lives. Those who came have made many impacts in our lives, sometimes even changing who we are. When someone has done what they have to do in your life, it is time for them to take their leave, and unknowingly someone else would enter your life. I would say, there is always a reason for someone to come into your life. Hence, this is part of growing up, part of my story.


• Was there any external inspiration behind your shot that you have used as reference?
  The concept and idea is mainly inspired from the action of letting go, where two people let go of their two hands. After thinking about the overall concept/idea, I decided to do an over-head shot with a flat-lay type of photograph. I gain inspiration from the ever popular flat-lay’s of product photography and used the style to convert it into a story to tell. I also made use of objects to help bring the concept all together.


• Why did you think that a series of photos would work better than a single photo?
  Multiple photos can help visualise and lead the storyline forward. I would say it is easier to capture and tell a whole story/ meaning from multiple photos rather than one. Some moments or experience might require more than one photo to truly showcase the depth of the story.


• How did the use of post-processing enhance the storytelling ability of your entries?
  Post-processing has help me enhanced the feel, vibe and mood evoked towards the viewers. Colours play a big role towards the feelings of individuals, and in my opinion, it is one of the most important details of a photo that would help tell the story.


• If you had the chance to retake your shot(s), what would you do differently?
  I would have shot my photos in RAW/DNG to be able to post-process my photos even further (forgot to change from JPEG haha). Other than that, I would experiment with different lightings and maybe different props too, to help tell the story better.

About the Photographer

• When, how, and why did you get into photography?
  As a child, point and shoot cameras was something I looked forward to getting my hands on every family holiday trip. Being trigger happy, I would start taking photos of things that amazed me. However, I would truly say I started out with the most convenient and reachable camera almost everyone has, a smartphone camera and slowly worked my way up to a DSLR. Influenced and inspired by many others I look upon, I too, want to be able to put a pause to a memory, capture it with just a click and store those moments of my own, and those of others as a photo.


• Do you define yourself by any particular style(s) of photography? If so, what are they and why?
  I wouldn’t entirely say I would define myself to a certain style. There’s still many things out there in the world, be it creativity or imagination that I have yet to discover and explore. I would say my style evolves and builds upon the different experiences, trial and errors and experiments I would go through. I like to try out new things and not restrain myself from sticking to a style.


• How has your photographic journey been affected by COVID-19? Are you more inspired to take more photos? Have the restrictions hindered, or conversely enhanced your creativity?
  Covid-19 has certainly affected the way of life. Not being able to explore the outdoors has hindered my photographic journey but I took a different challenge upon myself; to attempt to photograph what is in our reach and do what we can with what we have. The restrictions has certainly allowed me to think out of the box, find out new things I never knew and stretch my creativity to new heights.


• What are your photographic goals after Montage 2020?
  My goals generally remain the same; to explore, to experiment and to learn new things. After looking at the different submissions and winners, I would work towards improving my storytelling to capture the audiences hearts and minds.