International photography sounds exotic and exciting to most folks, and it can be, but it can just as easily be just as tedious and boring. In February, I was hired by Defense News to cover the Singapore Air Show. I knew that meant incredibly long hours first on a plane and then behind the booth of a conference center editing video. I knew from experience, that I’d likely see little more than airports and modern hotels. In which case, apart from the minor differences, usually related to the bathroom facilities, I could be anywhere in the world. And another thing about professional photography in general: it’s so easy to fall into the trap of shooting only what you get paid for and in the style that your client approves. If you’re not careful, you can forget what you love so much about the work. With all this in mind, I went to Singapore determined to do this trip a little differently. I decided to stay a few extra days, as cheaply as
possible, and explore this city, get a feel for the texture of the place, be open to chance encounters with the people and the culture. Photography for me, has always been about much more than making great images. My camera forces me to look at people, places, life, from a different perspective and I needed to get out of my self-imposed dungeon (read basement) and back to what I love. So, when the air show wrapped with plenty of good video for the defense news web page (HERE at Defense News), I took to the streets.From my first trip to SE Asia in 2005 to cover the Tsunami, the region has, in some strange way, felt a little like my home in coastal S.C. I’m comfortable there. I’ve tried and I’m not sure I can quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s the humidity, the close association with the water, peoples tendency to slow down a bit and talk to a stranger. The attitude, the salt in the air, or the slight sunburn…I don’t know. But, every time I sat down at a sidewalk café, ordered up a Tiger beer, and made small talk with a stranger sitting at the next table, I felt like I was sitting at Sam’s Corner in Garden City Beach, on a lazy summer afternoon having just stepped off a fishing boat, watching the tourist walk by.
I explored, like a new photography student, walking miles through China Town, and Little India, across the waterfront keys, through the myriad of shopping malls and down back alleys where the cooks and restaurant staff stepped out for a smoke. I met strangers, ex-pats who, too, have found a home in the region, a team of Hurricane Hunters from Keesler AFB, and had a long talk with a Singaporean painter about his life and his art. I watched him paint reflections on the water long into the evening.
The pictures…well, they probably look like travel pictures anyone would make. Good photography IS work and I was just enjoying the exploration. I’m thankful for the reminder of that simple joy and plan to do much more of it, now that I’m home. So, people of the Mid-Ohio valley, when you see a slightly overweight, balding guy with a camera wandering your city, take a moment to introduce yourself, tell him a little of your story, and point out something of your town that he might’ve missed otherwise. It will mean more than you can imagine.
More pics from Singapore HERE at my Photoshelter Gallery.
