embarked on a personal project that has been in my mind for over a year. inspired by the aerial shots of the prayers at Mekkah, the #terawihseries' intentions were simple.
1. to capture the beauty in prayers in the mosques in Singapore during Ramadan and
2. to increase the awareness about what actually goes on during the fasting month, especially for the non-Muslims.
being at the muslimah's prayer section, which are normally at a higher level, allows an aerial view of the muslimin's area. this special month is where families gather and go for prayers together, resulting in a bigger crowd at the mosques.
the mosques were chosen specifically due to this reason: higher ground to capture from. with approvals from the mosques, these photos were taken during the Isya' prayers, right before terawih.
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last year was when this idea surfaced in my head. however, i wasn't sure of the etiquette of photography in religious places. it got me questioning whether it was appropriate. this time round, with much consideration and drafting, i've decided to ask for approval from certain mosques regarding this matter. the replies were pretty positive and thus, here they are!
(photographed at An Nahdhah Mosque at Bishan, 20 June 2016)
thank you ustaz zulhilmi for the approval! :-)
(photographed at Alkaff Mosque at Kg Melayu, 21 June 2016)
thank you mr ja'afar junali for the approval! :-)
special thanks to Amalina Osman and Yasmin Abdullah for accompanying me for An Nahdhah Mosque and Alkaff Mosque respectively and especially Kak Hanee for helping me out with the permission letter!
ramadan kareem to all!
<video in progress>
(photo credit kak jam)
(photo credit mirabell)
(photo credit adib jalal)
On the 11 may i was asked by my amazing (former) lecturer (he was originally our lecturer in tp but left us for np) to be a wedding stylist for raja&ayu wedding and i took it up bravely (i think) with two other members - denise lum and amirah jumat, my fellow coursemates because i believe we make a great team, our style coincides somehow and our taste are similar.
So the theme for the wedding was rustic garden. And the photos does not really show much but what we did was the arbor (supposedly for photoshoot purposes but it ended up looking really gorgeous so it became a wedding frame for them), the photobooth set up, the reception table, signages and surrounding decos.
Their wedding was on the 21st of September and the biggest bummer was that I couldn't attend it since I was away for a getaway with family and I couldn't (even if i tried) - and wouldn't miss it. So i missed their wedding instead :(
Weird ya how I couldn't see the end result with my own eyes but the process was interesting! Met up with them a couple times to finalise things and ensure they like what we planned, and two other meet ups for purchasing/sourcing and another few get togethers to piece things up.
I feel terribly sad there aren't a lot of visuals of what was done but here's a list...
1.Entrance @gurame
(signage)
·
paper lanterns
·
mason jars with flowers
·
2.Reception table
Location: under the shelter, in front of the berkat table
·
a simple table to put these things:
·
sign book <wooden cover and empty pages, size
bigger than A4, smaller than A3>
·
chalk board with name on it
·
flower tins
·
typewriter (ayu’s)
·
additional items:
·
pigeon bicycle (alfi’s : alfi has agreed to
lending the bicycle)
3.Berkat table
Location: near the door heading in, beside the tables and
chairs for guests
·
a simple table to put the berkats (the tiny
plants for people to bring back)
4.Photobooth
Location: in front the reception table, with the background
of the sea, in between the pelamin pavilion and the tree
·
arbor <stable structure made of
bamboo/sticks/wood w branches/twigs tied or glued on it>
·
triangle banner <w name: Raja & Ayu, and
date: 21062014>
·
twines
·
additional items:
·
rattan chairs
·
rustic frames
·
suitcases
·
flower tins (to put along the way)
5.Signages (direction)
Location: near the carpark, towards Gurame restaurant
·
wooden board <painted/engraved with name and
date, and arrow>
In conclusion it was a really pleasant experience and what I learnt was that planning and piecing all these up requires so much help and agreement from different parties and that different people specialise in different areas and I'm so grateful for all the help we have gotten for the preparation and the wedding itself.
Thank you especially to Raja and Ayu for trusting us (kids) with this very big opportunity and agreeing and giving suggestions and guidance and for driving us around to get the stuffs we need and getting us food and snacks and always treating us so well. Congratulations once again!
Thank you to my homegirls (hahaha) Denise and Amirah for agreeing to this wonderful team and for working with this timebomb(?) and for the effort and time put in this. I could never have gotten it done without your naggings (mostly denise) and encouragements (mostly amirah). I love you both.
Thank you to Amalina for joining us at the last few days of the wedding when Amirah was away. I really appreciate your impromptuness and help throughout. You are amazing.
Thank you to Joshua, Teckman, Afiq Salleh, Shahid, Shahreen for the energy and sweat you guys put in to piece it up and taking orders and sorry for being bossy hahahaha. I can never thank you guys enough.
Thank you to (the lovely) Asyiqin for dropping by when denise called to help with the signage! So honored to have seen you in action hehe.
Thank you to CT, Joshua (again), Khoirul for helping out in the sourcing and accompanying (ct actually) and getting the ball rolling in the first place. You guys are important
Thank you to Afiq Bird and Alfi for the unseen (afiq) help you guys put in on the wedding day and for lending your bike (alfi) and for the photos (alfi).
And lastly, thank you to Ayu's mum for being so nice and cook us delicious food every time we are there for the preparations.
The end.
So I was asked by cousin, Kak Jiji, to help take a cover photo for Abg Hassan's band plus his mum and grandmother for a Mothers' Day Concert which will be held somewhere in March at Esplanade.
A veteran singer; Momo Latif, daughter and also singer; Kamalia Latif and Bushmen Singapore.
On 9 November, some of us were given the opportunity to meet our ex-president Mr S. R Nathan.
"When I approached him with the card in hand, I was so nervous. There he was, right in front of me, the man I saw on the wall of my past schools. Looking so cheerful and humble, he said 'Thank you.' and held my hand as I said, 'This is for you.' I took that chance to ask him for a picture and here it is. Mind our shy and excited faces. And in his hand, is the card. These are five who were given the privilege to meet our ex president by our Creative Writing lecturer, Felix Cheong." -Yours truly.
