Some people look at photography as just a job and a way to make money. Others see it as a hobby that they can and would do when they have free time. And most of the time to them, photography is just about taking beautiful pictures of things they are interested in (beautiful people, plants, insects, landscape, etc).
As for me, photography is an outlet for me to express myself. Not many people know this fact, but I used to be a club DJ (spinning hip hop, mostly) and I used to be a solo hip hop artist. Hip hop has became part of my life exclusively. It influences the way I look at things and the way I think most of the time.
In my photography, I used stuffs I’ve seen from Rolling Stones magazine, The Source magazine, music videos, and practically any visual references that’s there as my influence. It helps me and eases me in coming out with outputs. And not many people know this or realized, is that I tend to edit the look of my pictures from its original form. I love doing that. Personally it adds another layer in the thought process while taking the pictures by imagining the absolute final look those pictures will end up on prints/screen later.
Sounds complicated right? It is actually not. It comes naturally within me and it gets easier when the subject is closer to the heart.
Yesterday I went to an open air hip hop gig, organized by Tourism Malaysia. A lot of heavyweights performed during the gig. Most of them are my friends. It was very comfortable for me to be there, as the music and the atmosphere is something that I can bask in and be inspired with. I had my camera with me, and I started shooting.
It has been a while since I last shoot images for fun, for personal use. Everything came straight from the heart. Everything was done with soul. This is the essence of my style. This is me, stripped down and dirty.
[nggallery id=3]
— Spread the word: