Few months ago I was very honoured to been approached by Singapore very own violinist Siow Lee Chin to conceptualize a series of portrait for her new book, From Clementi to Carnegie which was out early this month.

Like every assignment I would find out about the story and what my clients hope to achieve from the photos, and in this case, it’s People Photography. Among all the info I managed to gather about Lee Chin and the journey she had been through in her life, what struck me the most was the accident she met which broke her arm and eventually she gained full recovery, all from her sheer determination to fight back. My plan was to create a new image for her, something which no one had seen before, and on top of that I wanted the photos to speak the strength and will power of this amazing woman, so I conceptualised the shoot to be done outdoor at an old railway track. Everyone loved the concept of why it should be outdoor and why it should be at the specific chosen location, so great now we looked forward to that day.

Two things are guaranteed in life- birth and death, and in between nothing is guaranteed.

The day had finally arrived, but unfortunately the weather was not on our side, it was raining since the night before. We had no choice and very reluctantly we went for plan B, studio. At the end, a beautiful old photo of Lee Chin is used for the book cover due to the concept, and the rest of the photos go for inside and back cover.

Although we did not get the set I initially planned but we still got the refreshing new image of Lee Chin I conceptualised. To me the best part was we all had so much fun doing what we loved and I must say I had the most wonderful pleasure working with this talented amazing artist, Siow Lee Chin the girl from Clemeti to Carnegie.

Alan Lim
Singapore Photographer