It's all in the interpretation

This year's Digital-Life Canon Photo Marathon winner tells LESLIE GOH about what inspired him.

Mr Wee Keng Hor (right) works with figures in the day and more figures at night.

By day, the 39-year old is a finance executive. But at night, he prefers to take pictures of his three children, who are two, four and six years old. Mr Wee's wife, Madam Woon Siew Chiun, 38, is a pharmacy technician.

That he won this year's Digital Life-Canon Photo Marathon is especially sweet to him. Apart from the fact that this is his third try at the competition - he did not win in his last two attempts - this year's event was also more challenging.

Participants had to come up with pictures on four themes - Faces, Power: Simply Red, Slice of History and Darkness - instead of just three.

His interpretation of the themes won him the judges' praise, with one of them saying he was impressed with the "concepts behind the theme and the technical composition of the pictures".

His entries:

Faces - A devotee at the Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple in Serangoon Road

Power: Simply Red - A waitress greeting a guest at the Marina Mandarin Hotel

Slice of History - An old-style barber shop in a back alley behind Alsagoff Arab School in the Arab Street area

Darkness - The literal and metaphorical darkness of Desker Road

"I thought of what it meant and went to the back lanes of Desker Road, which are always dark," said Mr Wee. "Darkness also reminds us of the activities going on inside those houses, which I guess have to be carried on in the dark."

Mr Wee explained that as time was a constraint, he relied mainly on past experiences and subjects he was familiar with.

"But inspiration may just strike when you chance upon the opportunity. For the 'Red' theme, I happened to see the waitress dressed in red at the Marina Mandarin Hotel. I placed the camera on the floor of the lobby to catch the reflection, and waited for things to happen."

Did he expect to win? "I think my pictures are good although none have won major prizes in the Photo Marathon," he said. "To me, they are keepers."

Was it difficult setting up the shots?

"Taking the picture is easy. The difficulty is in coming up with the idea and finding the suitable subject and place within the given time."

Among Mr Wee's prizes are a Canon EOS 30D kit, a Canon Pixma iP4200 printer and a Mac Mini.

On what he will do with them, he said: "They will be my new toys! The Mac Mini I will share with my children so they don't mess up my main computer with all my precious digital photo files."

The best thing about coming out tops: "It will help pacify my wife for granting me the time off to take part. She's always critical that my pictures are not good enough and grumbles that I'm wasting my time."

PS: All images taken with Sony Cybershot R1

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