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I first started photography when I was 18 years old.
At that time I had just finished my Junior College education, so I had 3 months before I enter the army
And my literature teacher at that time, who saw that I had some interests in art in general
...recommended me to take up the course, which I did, and I fell in love with it almost immediately
I remember class was every Monday, and after the first Monday I kept looking forward to the next one
so that's how I began my passion for photography.
To describe in one sentence is tough, but I would like to think of my self, if I can, ideally I would think of myself as a story teller
and that's what I aim to do, to make stories that are personal to me
The thing that sets photography apart from other art forms, is that it forces you to confront your immediate and present reality.
For instance, in painting you can paint a night sky in a day time; in writing, you can write something otherworldly from the comfort of your own room
But in photography, you can't. You have to be there, you have to be present. That's the most fundamental difference...
... you are forced to make a connection between you and the thing that's being photographed in the real world.
And I think that, it's through this unique feature of photography that we have the potential, capacity to establish the kind of relationship...
with the world, with the people around you, the environment that you live in
And that to me, is the greatest transformation.
It's not so much about you take the picture, but the picture takes you. You are changed by what you do.
So that's what I think about it actually
I felt very powerful actually. I'm not just the subject, I'm also the director, the photographer.
I'm playing a lot of roles. And I like that work because it allowed me to become somebody else
I first started the work when I was attending a workshop in Cambodia.
And what happened was that we had to make a work in 7 days
In the first three days I didn't know what I was doing
Then on the fourth day, I decided that instead of photographing the characters that I see
I should make my own character, transforming myself into one of them...
and make a fictional story about myself as them.
So I tried different characters at first, like construction worker, tuk tuk driver.
but all didn't flow through, because those characters are defined by a vocation.
like a tuk tuk driver, or a construction worker. Those are vocations, jobs.
But, being a ladyboy is different. There's a lot of room in this character for me to play
I see it as a performance, a performance that's intended solely to be documented by a camera.
So I transformed myself into a girl, into a ladyboy. At that time in Siem Riep you always see them around at night.
And I didn't want to just make a documentary about them. For me, that was not so interesting
I wanted to try to, at least to some extent, put myself into their shoes.
And as a guy, I learnt how to walk in heels, how to do makeup...
I got the right wig for my face, I dressed up in women's clothes.
I wore a bra, played that part and tried to document the life of the new character I developed for myself, based on what I had seen
So I kind of internalize what I see into my own body. It was a very liberating experience
I first started homework when I finished a show in France
It was a big show, I was nominated for the Discovery Award at the Arles Photo Festival for my Shauna work
And you can imagine that it wasn't easy for my parents when I was doing that work
My dad actually messaged me when I was in France, the first time he ever smsed me and he said...
"Never give up, if you think what you're doing is right, then just carry on..."
I was very moved, because you know, it's not easy for an Asian dad to say that
and especially when you think about the kind of work I was doing, it was not easy for them.
So I was very impressed and I told myself that perhaps it's time for me to do something about my family.
Thank you!