happiness is: a roomful of photographers

critique session

i love photography. no surprise there. i especially love documentary work and photojournalism. maybe it's because what i am trained in, but i still believe that real pictures have a big role to play in society.

in the past few years, i've become pretty appreciative of the other forms of photography, and enjoy the diversity out there, but my core values are always kicked into overdrive when people who consider themselves documentary photographers or photojournalists set up pictures. "what's the big deal?" they ask, and i almost always tell them that i don't give a damn if they destroy their own credibility, but i hate it when my work gets dragged down into the muck of deceit that they create.

i know it will happen, and i know it happens a lot at the other newspapers under the umbrella company that owns my newspaper. i also know that i am on staff with some of the best shooters in singapore, and take heart in the fact that the younger generation at my paper also share my aversion to making up pictures, opting instead to look for real images i.e. things that happen as you see them, not as you want them to look.

but not everyone is a documentarian, and the current project that a few of us are working on with action for aids shows that there is room for all kinds of photography in this world. there is nothing like introducing a new cohort of image lovers to the fold of photography, and even more fulfilling is a roomful of seasoned veterans and inquisitive newbies talking about pictures.

what can i say, stuff like that makes me happy.