This surprising year

Even though my personal path in photography has changed and deciding to let go of my staff and become freelance was a result of that, I was disappointed inside. I had believed that if I did something well and with integrity, then people would pay me a decent remuneration for my services. In Singapore, at least, this is not the case. Even though the photography had succeeded, the business had not. And being human, that hurt somewhere. So with this and the bad flu that quite a few people had, it made the end of 2008 a little depressing for me.

I was expecting 2009 to start low key. It would be a time for me to lick my wounds. But January was packed with work. Most of it was just simple family portraits and portraits for different artists and arts groups. But it was fun working with other creative people. And then the surprise dawned on me, without the overheads, I was actually earning money. And I was having fun while earning money. The other thing is that other photographers also started to rent the studio and equipment and my old tenant Wesley is coming back to rent office space. Without the constraints of running a corporate business, my resources are going to be better utilised.

And it did not stop there. I was given the job to shoot some dancers for this year's Arts Festival poster. And I will be shooting for an International dance festival in September this year. I am getting commercial rates for these two jobs. I have been berated by an art buyer at Batey for only being good at shooting dance. But my love for dance and my pursuit of dance photography is getting me properly paid work.

I guess that listening to most people's advice, I have tried to make a successful 'business'. I have tried to grow my studio big so that I can do corporate work. And although this has helped me grow technically as a photographer, it was not a financial success, it has hampered me in growing my own personal vision. The whole irony is that now I am shooting what I want and am pursuing my own personal research in photography, I am indulging myself, and it is making much better financial sense than the wedding or corporate work ever did.

I begin to realise that people who tell me to be practical are simply followers who are at the mercy of the rich captains of industry. I say, follow your dreams, and find a practical way of making them come true. By doing what you truly love, you will expand your boundaries and eventually people will acknowledge your unique abilities. Don't follow the crowd, lead.