Check out this local Singaporean’s photos of some of the city’s most iconic buildings as you’ve never seen them before.
This month we are showcasing the work of photographer Ahmad Faruq bin Rozali.
We caught up with Faruq in a short interview to get to know the guy behind the camera better and understand what makes him tick!
How would you describe your photography style?
Faruq is a 25 year old photographer currently based in Singapore. He describes his style as very different from many photographers out there. I’d try means and ways to photograph something typical (subjects that we often see online) and make it unique, an angle that has never been explored or photographed. It’s going to be tough but who doesn’t love a challenge?
What do you like to shoot?
I love to shoot landscapes, architectures, documentaries and travel photography. My ultimate dream is to work for National Geographic.
They’ve been my inspiration ever since I was awfully young! I’d always watch their documentaries on TV. The visuals of the shots taken were just amazing.
Who inspires you?
A professional travel photographer, Elia Locardi has been producing a lot of spectacular images from many different countries of the world. His story of starting his career as a travel photographer was truly inspiring also. Getting to beautiful places and being able to capture them on stills. He has his own post processing technique that I follow, and it has improved the quality of my photos tremendously. I admire his dedication and hard work that I aspire to be like him one day.
What Gets You Excited?
To travel to countries that were not documented a lot makes me really excited. That means I have a lot of opportunities to take photos that were not typically seen anywhere on the internet.
What do you hope to achieve in the next 12 months?
Well, I’m still fresh from school, so I’m just hoping to build up on my portfolio and make it more interesting and attractive and be able to sustain a stable income through my photography.
What’s your favourite image and why?
I don’t have any favourites to be honest, I’m a sucker for any beautiful landscapes, architectures, documentaries and travel photos but I really admire all the photos that Elia Locardi has photographed. They’re just purely amazing. The colours are insane, everything is just wow!
Any tips for photographers who want to take up stock photography?
I don’t have a lot of tips as I’m also new to the stock photography genre. I’m in equally need of tips like any other photographers out there who are trying to venture into this genre. What I’ve learned so far in stock photography is that, not all photos that we take has to be a happy photo, our talents must not need to always be smiling. Creatives and clients got back to us telling us to explore more facial expressions, and that smiling must not be the only choice. Negative spaces in an image plays a huge part where text can be easily added in. Stock photography is very straight forward in terms of equipment, you just need your camera and any preferred go to lens. Personally, I shoot with a purpose, I compose my photos in a manner that it’d be able to tell a story on its own. During my 3 months internship last year with a local newspaper, The New Paper. The senior photojournalist has instilled in me knowledge that were really useful for my photography journey. They’re all about telling story through their images, that’s what i’m really lacking but I’m proud to say that i’m progressing and making improvements in these area ever since I left The New Paper. Another tip that I’d love to share is that, to always prepare a brief before the actual photo shoot day. Create a shot list to give you an idea of what kind of photos are expected from you. Search for inspiration photos online to give you a more concrete idea.
You can check out more of Faruq’s work here and on Klaud9.com, where it is all available for purchase and use in your next marketing campaign.
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