In the mean time, I am still keeping the site alive for archival purposes, have less time now to blog but may pop by occasionally. Thank you all for the support over the years, we will see where life leads me next.

TOP, © Ch’ng Yaohong, 2011

Hello, I’m back.

Lost my soul somewhere along the way but I think it’s time I reclaim something that’s mine. Lots of life changes this year and I’ve been busy adjusting to things.

Seems like the blogosphere has changed somewhat with the proliferation of Tumblr, Twitter and even Facebook. I can’t possibly compete with all the awesome content aggregators out there. A new approach has to be taken; at least one that is not too time consuming for me.

So, how have you been? I hope you missed me!

It did strike me though, after these years of running this blog, what kind of value have I contributed? And what do I foresee ahead?

I didn’t have much of a plan when I started writing, I just wanted a platform to share some of the amazing works I came across and hopefully allow these artists to reach a wider audience. Obviously back then, I was still in the industry and everything in my life revolved around photography. I had lots of opportunities to meet new people, had enormous amounts of drive and energy. These days, life seems like a panel from Dilbert. Perhaps that’s why I couldn’t see or find any interesting stuff to share lately. I would like to believe that my relative was wrong about the state of staleness.

Hence, I am now looking for contributors to the blog. You need to be passionate about photography (obviously), write well (I’m a grammar nazi), preferably based in Asia. There will be no deadlines, no screaming editors and obligation of any kind. Well, if you’re interested, do drop me a mail or leave a comment here.

World Identity Lab is an exciting global research project that seeks to discover and capture what identity means to us now. The first current project focuses on youths around the world and the results have been rather diverse and interesting so far. Check it out.

The Nooderlicht festival is back for the 16th year (whoa!). The selection of photographers each year never ceases to amaze me. This year’s theme revolves around the human condition and Mrs Deane writes about festival on their blog.

And I’ve been secretly enjoying Stella Kalaw’s Wandering series that she has been posting on her blog. She has been busy producing work since I wrote about her last year.

Also, check out some beautiful imagery from Bangalorean photographer Vivek Matthew on his online portfolio.

Unbeknownst to many of you, I started a full-time job three weeks ago. I’m determined to keep this blog running but I do want to apologize for all the unanswered emails. Can’t blame a man for trying to make a living right? On a random note, I discovered 4 to 5 rolls of expired 120 film in my fridge last night. Feeling so guilty about it right now. So much for buying in bulk!

Got back home last night from my short trip to Mumbai. It was such a charming (and chaotic) city. Makes one feel alive being in a place with that much vibrance and noise. I’m still recovering from my flights and the drive down from Kuala Lumpur. Too bad I didn’t have much time to explore the city and take more pictures. It was also generally cloudy the whole time I was there. Well, all the more reason that I should revisit the city in the future. I will be featuring a few photographers that I recently uncovered in the next few days and I will get to replying all the mail that you have sent!

First off, The Black Snapper is an online showcase of works by young emerging photographers worldwide. Each week, a guest curator helms the selection of works. For the launch, Abbas from Magnum Photos has chosen some really interesting photographers. This magazine is definitely worth keeping an eye on!

Young Singaporean documentary photographer, Sam Kang Li, has got his new portfolio up. I featured him a few months back and I think that he is one talented fellow. He has put up new works from China and Singapore.

Massimo Sordi is an Italian photographer with several projects on India. Dreaming Bollywood is a documentation of the booking offices found throughout India.

I’ve been thinking of Tokyo recently (maybe I’m watching too many Japanese shows). Ari Saloman sent me a link to his panoramic views of Tokyo, which show more of the city’s underbelly than the glitzy one in my head.

My mailbox’s been terribly cluttered and I apologize to those who might have sent me something. It takes time for me to sort things out and I will reply soon.

Well, obviously my views are different. I think that it would take some years before people here would recognize photography as a legitimate art form and said people really should broaden their horizons. Then again, photography would most likely be so over by the time that happens.

Reading Alec Soth’s interview brought up another level of cognitive discontent. Photography = Twitter? Sometimes I do feel this way, especially when confronted with hordes of people touting their new swanky cameras or rediscovering vintage film cameras, churning up gigabytes after gigabytes of trash on facebook/flickr. It makes me feel all so cynical and bitter inside. Nevertheless, I’m still intensely in love with the medium but I find myself distancing away from the more commercial aspects of it.

I find the term digital curator to be very misleading. What I do here cannot compare to what a curator does. A (good) curator is someone who is engaged in the artist and his/her works, providing guidance and helping them to reach new heights. I am a mere aggregator of interesting works that I chance upon. I try to throw in some of my thoughts but it’s too tiring to write critically for every post.

I started the blog because I saw a lack of coverage on photography from this region and frankly, I think I was being too naive and ambitious when I decided that, “Hey, why don’t I start a blog too and see how I can help to promote photographers here?”

Two years later, I find myself losing the initial drive and energy. It’s quite a thankless job sometimes. I continue investing time and money into this “hobby”, without asking for much in return. (A friend scoffs at my altruism.) Most days, I get emails asking me for help or to review their works/websites and I try my best. It does get frustrating and time consuming at times. (So please, appreciate the other photography blogs too. We love the medium too much!)

I’ve been thinking of transforming this blog into something more critical and engaging. However, I find myself struggling to find new content now, much less coming up with interesting topics to talk about. I also wish that more photographers in the region would present their work online, in order to make my job easier.

Despite this, I’m still glad that I went ahead with this project. I’ve made friends that I wouldn’t have been able to (you know who you are!) and I have an excuse to visit more galleries while on holiday. Well, as I begin my next phase in life, I hope that I can still continue this venture and my photography. Hopefully, without anymore commercial intervention.

Nevertheless, I have added Photographers Speak to the blogroll. There are some interesting interviews to be read on the blog. Also, Dennis was my host in the Philippines and he runs a personal photography blog, as well as a blog on the photographic scene in his country. I also met up with Estan over drinks and he has been busy running four (five? six? I lost count.) projects at the same time. Colin Pantall’s critical (and sometimes humorous) blog also makes an appearance. I have been reading Feature Shoot regularly, they have a really cool showcase of photographers there. I have also added Ilovethatphoto.net to the blogroll.

As a matter of fact, I subscribe to close to 60 RSS feeds for photography blogs alone. I think that I may be suffering from some form of compulsive disorder.