02/09/2024
I met Shi-An in April, her mother Kheng Hua was being photographed at our studio. During the shoot as we were chatting, I felt an intriguing vibe about her face, it had an intangible quality of timelessness.
At that point, I knew I wanted cast her in a cinematic style photoshoot. I asked her if she would like to work together for a tentative shoot in the future. I was elated when she said she was agreeable.
About 2 months later, I got involved with Sony Singapore for the new 85mm 1.4 GM II lens campaign. I floated the idea of a conceptual shoot of 3 women that had narrative elements of a cinematic nature. Sony approved the concept, and I got to work immediately. I knew I had to partner with SFX maestro June Goh for her beautiful art. We had intensive back and forth discussions about the ideas and settled on a look reminiscent of a Mongolian princess for Shi-An.
On the shoot day, she donned the costume and stepped into the set, I took a shot and time stopped.
It felt like she had become somebody else, in a different time and in a different place. It was a moment we shared, all of us in the room.
The new 85mm lens was perfect for this shoot, its flattened perspective provided the right look for the concept. (I have to get a bit technical at this point) Besides the upgrades with better AF, weight, and size, the thing that stood out most is lack of CA (chromatic aberration or color fringing). This was huge, the final image was sharper on super fine details like hair because color fringing was gone. So Good.
In fact, it was so good that I sold off the my old 85mm GM after 2 days of testing. 😆😆
