Photography (Business) 

A slow and difficult market 

The economy is not in a good shape, ask around small and medium sized business owners from various industries, they echo similar sentiments. While I also got to hear that some industries are doing fine in this tough market conditions (domestic and international), it can be lopsided, imbalanced, making it very difficult and challenging in this slow and difficult market. 

I am not going to shy away that photography business has been affected by this slow and difficult market. It’s stressful and pressurising. Some strategic changes are on the cards, potentially going into more content creation/social media marketing sectors than just purely photography shoots itself. 

Photography and Content Creation Partnerships Opportunities

There are some discussions on photography and content creation partnerships opportunities coming soon. I am awaiting for more details and the announcement dates from my friend that I collaborated and worked with over the past decade. 

Photography (Personal/Leisure)

What’s up on my personal and leisure sectors of my photography? Here it goes:

Photography/Visual Storytelling Ups and Downs

I have a photograph selected for the recently concluded 20th Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition (NAPE) 2025, it was titled, “Of Red and White Celebrations at GBTB Lighting Up Marina Bay Singapore”. This was a huge honoured for me, I was very happy that my photography artwork was selected to be showcased along side other talented local Singapore photographers. Find out more about NAPE 2025 journey story here!

On the other hand, I previously shared about my visual storytelling article that I am working on in January 2025, for ephemere photography platform publication. My article didn’t make the cut and was not chosen, it was very disappointing to be honest. Just another of those setbacks we get in life and in our visual storytelling and writing journeys.  

SG60 Personal Photography Project

With the various concluded and ongoing photography contests and competitions in 2025 till date, the themes are related to the SG60 theme since Singapore is celebrating her 60th year of independence in 2025. 

Together with taking photographs for the photography contests/competitions, they are currently added to my SG6t0 personal photography project curation that I am planning to produce a SG60 photography zine or book sometime down the road.

Travel

The travel community chat #TTOT Travel Talk on Twitter that I am co-hosting since November 2020 recently embarked on a slow travel break. Given the ever changing nature of social media and what’s happening to Twitter or X platform, it was so much harder and challenging to organise and run such chats, that we had to take a break, reorganise and plan for the future. 

I am not producing travel content per se that lose travel content creators, as I am more of a travel photography/visual storytelling approach. There might be some travel photography/content creation/writing opportunities ahead, keeping my fingers crossed. 

As for leading/planning travel photography trips, it’s still in my business plan, although kickstarting this is kind of harder and trickier than I thought. For a start, I need to restart my own personal travel photography trips overseas again and stop procrastinating. 

Creative and Arts 

Following, supporting, and working with other creative artists from other genres have helped me in many different ways over the years. From arts therapy, to opening up my views and approaches to creativity and arts, they have been helpful and impactful, at times also a relief through those art therapy that combines well with my photography therapy. 

Local creative artist such as artist Wei from House of VSE / Very Small Exhibition / Bring LOVE Everywhere, has been an inspiration on his creativity and artistry, that allows me to view and approach creativity and arts in more ways that helps me in my visual storytelling journeys. 

Heritage

In recent months, attending events at Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) has opened up further the areas of Chinese history, heritage, culture and arts. Check out some of my earlier coverage of SCCC events that I attended. Together with SG60 celebrations in 2025, there would be more events/activities coming up at SCCC, do keep a lookout!

I am working on more Community Heritage related events with My Community, sharing more about their walks, events and activities. 

Other areas of history, heritage and culture that I might partner with, I am also on the lookout for them and potential discussions with seniors who are heritage advocates.

Reflecting Q2 2025 and H1 2025 (Technology | Business | Personal)

I have also wrote about my reflections on Q2 2025 and H1 2025 on my technology, business and personal segments on my TGH Technology and Business website. Do visit and have a read too!

What lies ahead in H2 2025?

There are still a number of uncertainties and worries amidst among all the different situations and happenings taking place. How would H2 2025 turns out? That’s still a lot of work to be done, adapting and making strategic changes are in the works. 

Not going to be easy, it might get even tougher, more challenging and more stressful. We all have to work it out and navigate our way.

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An ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with VSE / House of VSE

This is an ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with Very Small Exhibition (VSE) / House of VSE. Let me bring you on a quick recap/travel back in time on how I started this journey. 

I first met artist Wei in 2021 at Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) for MHC x VSE support World Mental Health Day. That was followed following his Very Momentary Exhibition artworks displays and unforgettable experience with this Bring LOVE Everywhere.

In 2022, I wrote about “How I Met/Follow/Support Very Small Exhibition and Bring LOVE Everywhere”,  Today’s story would definitely be an add-on and continuation of my earlier story published in 2022.  That’s also Rainbow illumiNation – Celebrating 1 year of Very Momentary Exhibition.

Over the next few years till date, there were Your Artist Neighbour Exhibition by VSE in 2023, Explore and Discover your Inner “Chin-Chin” World in 2023, Tension by House of VSE in 2023, Modulation – A series of Participatory Art Experiences in 2024.

There were more photographs and videos that I didn’t manage to write it down into visual stories and published on this website. I am curating and uploading more photographs into my House of VSE / Very Small Exhibition / Bring LOVE Everywhere collection on Flickr, where readers can view more of my visual storytelling / documentary journey here.

Oh yes, this is still my ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with VSE / House of VSE.

Very In-depth personal sharing by Artist Wei

From my conversations with Artist Wei over the years at his various different artworks (whether work-in-progress or at the exhibitions itself), he doesn’t share that much in-depth about the different things that he was facing (probably like many of us out there too).

At The Substation Sub+ Artist Talk – Wormhole with Very Small Exhibition, friends/supporters present at the event venue (and those watching on Zoom too) were treated to a very in-depth personal sharing by the artist himself. 

We heard about the meanings, stories and inspirations behind the colour choices (Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, White), that many of us would associate with his iconic, bright and colourful rainbow themed artworks. 

Vulnerability

Vulnerability – That hits me deeply. This is something that everyone of us are facing it. We are not super human, we are never perfect, and in some ways we can be vulnerable to many different curve balls or situations thrown at us in our lifetime.

This is not just because as a practicing creative artist, you are more vulnerable than others who are not inside this industry. Our human race, we human beings, are facing some form of vulnerability at different stages of our life, some bigger than others.

Mental Health Matters

Mental Health Matters – The most recent global pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 (COVID-19) gave limelight to mental health awareness and why mental health matters. Artist Wei shared deeply on this, how it impacted him and affected his artwork journey, and why his artworks are therapeutic not just for himself, also for the greater community as well. 

Running a business is very stressful and challenging, let alone it’s part of the creative / artistic / media related production industry. Life, costs of living and societal pressures add up to our pressure cooker environment, some of us handled it alright, some couldn’t. There are times when people’s barriers and defences fell, they might be facing further more unknown and potentially bigger mental health battles ahead.

In a nutshell, Mental Health Matters, enough said. 

The Conflicting Personas that a Creative / Artist face

One of the key sharing by artist Wei that resonates deeply with me during the artist talk was on conflicting personas that a creative / artist face. As a photographer that runs both commercial/professional and personal/leisure/creative segments, I faced similar challenges, difficulties, as well as experiencing conflicting personas as “A Good Person”. “An Artist” and “A Business Person”.

In my personal humble opinion, I won’t say it’s impossible. However, to reach a stage of a good person, an artist that can practice his or her art and craft without too much stress or pressure and running it as a profitable business, it’s kind of a utopian world that many of us would like to have, even for those not in the art and craft or creative industries.

Personally, we have to separate what brings us the revenue (commercial / professional photography business), that can actually fund most of our personal photography projects or even documentary visual storytelling projects. 

Sometimes, or most of the time, we are juggling and handling all three personas on our own, and that makes us vulnerable, whether we like it or not. 

More than just documenting visual stories – Inspiration, Learning and Opening Up my Creativity 

On a personal and professional basis, this has been a very colourful, insightful, inspiring and encouraging journey supporting, documenting and writing about Very Small Exhibition / House of VSE over the years

The Phoblographer recently published this article, titled “What sketching can teach you about photography?” This is a great sharing and insights for photographers as well as fellow creatives from other genres. We can learn much more, open up our views and perspectives, be inspired and even opening up your creativity further by visiting or engaging arts of different forms and genres.

Through my journeys over the years, photographing and documenting VSE / House of VSE, I have also benefitted in my art and craft segment (still not that good with painting, drawing or making sculptures). My biggest takeaway for me is opening up my creativity, and how I can combine art and craft more into my photography. 

More than just documenting visual stories – Inspiration, learning and opening up my creativity through my ongoing journeys with VSE / House of VSE.

When my visual storytelling, documentary combines with art and craft, this give rise to my own creative artist story sharing, my style, my inner voice, right here on TGH Photography and Travel.

 * Photos shot with vivo V50 smartphone with its ZEISS Multi-focal Portrait lenses. A TGH Photography x vivo V50 visual storytelling series production. *

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