2018 Year End Review - My Documentary Photography Comes Home

How do you even begin to encapsulate a year? It’s 365 days of living and being and breathing and it all goes by so fast. As a photographer, the photos I take are not only momentos of the little moments that went by but also memory place holders that let me look back and recall a time in my life: the smells, the sights and even the sounds.

A brief slideshow encapsulating my 2018 year. What a year it was! Read on below for more details :)

This year marked a major change for me personally with the birth of my daughter. It changed the way I see the world  and how I play a part in it. Being a father is at some time really tough but also other times very rewarding and I truly enjoy the reward of being a new Dad.

Seeing my wife give birth was an experience unto itself… but hearing my daughter’s first cries changed everything about who I think I am.

The Chinatown Project (Documenting Chinatown) grew externally this year. I was taking less photos and spending a little less time in Chinatown compared to before but I got a chance to exhibit photos at the Sun Yat Sen Courtyard pop-up exhibition and also talk about this long-term project at the ARC Experience photography conference in Vancouver this year. It’s also the year that I started creating the first book of my documentation of Chinatown and I look forward to making it available for sale next year. 

I worked with many families this year as well as wedding couples and it was amazing as always to be a part of people’s lives and document their day. I truly enjoy being a documentary photographer and creating photographs from the “mundane” and “unseen” moments. To be able to create authentic and honest photographs are why I do what I do every day. 

As I look back and try to pick a few “highlight” photos for this slideshow and blogpost, I’m reminded of all the good times in 2018, all the rough times and also all the celebratory times. As in previous years, I’m so thankful for all the people I worked with this year, from clients to photographers, to the people of Chinatown, to event planners and brides and grooms to the Chinatown Associations, to all my friends I’ve made at the ARC Experience to the families who’ve allowed me to document your lives. Thank you all so much! You all make my photography more than just about photographs.

The Birth Of Our Daughter:

The Documenting Chinatown Project (Photos from 2018):

Family PhotoSessions:

Documentary Wedding Photography (and some Styled Photoshoot Projects):

Newborn Documentary Photosession - Zee, Eee and Cee

Yes, their actual names are not Zee, Eee or Cee but this is a special for a good friend :)

I've known Zee and Eee for a while and they've been great friends. When they asked me to take photos of their brand new baby Cee and they wanted it in a documentary approach, I was more than delighted to spend some time with them and take their photos. The day I arrived, Cee was about 2 weeks old so he was pretty new to the world at that time. 

Sometimes I'm right in the action, other times I'm far away. I do a lot of moving around during these sessions... in a way, almost dancing with my subjects as I work to get the best frame I can.

There was little to no posing (as is my usual approach) as I focused entirely on the interactions between Zee, Eee and little Cee and their new lives together. If there was one thing I realized is that new babies sleep a lot. However, near the end, we saw Cee starting to open his eyes before crying a bit and then going back to sleep. Ah, the life.

Here's the gallery :)