Thank you for visiting my blog and checking out my work!
I became a professional photographer in the early 2003, however, photography has always been a lifestyle for me that started from childhood. Dad had a cool SLR back in the 70's. It might have been a Pentax. I loved the smell of the brown leather case and how happy I felt when he let me put in the film roll. Once the automatic snapshot cameras came to the market, Dad got quite a few of them laying around the house ready to point and shoot. Many of the film rolls from those cameras didn't get their exposure at all because of a little girl(me) who loved to press the rewind button to hear the sound of a rolling film. We still ended up having boxes and boxes of photo prints during that period until the digital cameras came along.
The real training of photography and of my creative skills began in the autumn of 1989 when I started the five-year study in printing and photography at a journalism college in Taipei, Taiwan. Dad sold a couple of his XO cognac and bought my first SLR. I got a Nikon FM2 with a 50mm and a 35-105mm marco. I loved producing prints in the darkroom. It was always a heated conversation when I asked Dad to convert one of our two bathrooms into a darkroom, but it never happened. I was sent to the US to study business in the mid 90's. I brought FM2 with me.
Living in the U.S. really spurred me into the creative world, and I changed the boring business management major to communications and advertising. I learned how we use messages to generate meaning in different contexts, cultures and media platforms. I also discovered my passion for visual communications, and that helped me to kick off my career in the creative design field. I started as a junior designer in San Francisco and not too long after I was a communications specialist working for Nokia in Sweden, and later on, I had my own marketing communications agency.
When the spring of 2003 arrived, I was busy with my first pregnancy and the relocation to London. During that time, I got my first digital camera - Olympus C5050-Z. It was my reward for housing a baby.
Gemma, my firstborn, inspired me in many ways, and one of them is definitely baby portrait photography. I was amused and mesmerized by every detail that came with her. It was a visual feast to my eyes to look at her fine little fingers and tiny toes, her delicate eyelashes, her cheeks that glowed naturally the perfect shade of rosy pink, her little curls that refused to set behinds her cutesy ears...the view was endless. I certainly utilized the digital camera madly and I went on to set up my own home studio so I could take better shots with proper lighting and backdrops. God gave me the most patient little model to play around, and Gemma was a dream for any photographer.
(Gemma.)
I eventually invited my Japanese neighbors who also had a cute baby girl named Sakura to do some family portraits for fun. The father who was studying his MBA at the time cried after he saw the outcome. He encouraged me so strongly to turn my photography into a business. Three more baby photo sessions later for friends of mine, they all suggested the same idea. They began bringing their friends to be photographed by me. My agenda book was full with appointments. I hardly advertised. I loved how my photographs made the parents cry (in a touching way) - that was worth more to me than the extra cash.
Photography side-tracked my career. I was shooting family portraits and was also commissioned by commercial businesses. My works got featured on parenting and fashion magazines in Holland, Japan Taiwan, and the UAE. Dad pondered why he spent his hard earned money to send me abroad and I ended up as a photographer. I told him that I wouldn't meet my husband if he didn't send me and none of his lovely grand children would pop out. It wasn't until a couple of years later after I moved to the middle east that I went back to my initial field and produced publications.
The United Arab Emirates occupies a large part of my heart. I lived there for 7 good years and formed a lot of special friendships. Apart from my normal job, I had many private assignments from portraits to weddings. Most of the Arabic people who I met were very loving and kind, and it didn't make much difference if they were school teachers or members of royal family. I only wish the media would stay true when they portrait Arabic people. And I wish one day I will have an Arabic client who will not be shy and let me showcase the documentary of their family life.
I feel blessed. These days my camera is the one who takes me to places, not the other way around. Now the only matter for me is to be ready for dispatch.
.jpg)
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg "Percy Chang Photography ©")
.jpg)
