18 LUMEN | PROGRAMMES
Passion to Shoot
By Mr Michael Poh
In the first book of the Bible , in the first three verses , it says , “ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . Now the earth was formless and empty , darkness was over the surface of the deep , and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters . And God said , “ Let there be light ,” and there was light .”
Voilà ! Within 3 verses , the concept of photography was born . In 2017 , under a special request by our SJI counsellor - Mr Benedict Long , I undertook the task of mentoring Bryan Teo ( then a Year 2 student ), who had a passion for drone photography . I tried to arrange opportunities for him to put his skills to use by serving SJI in the area of drone photography . It was a totally new experience for both of us .
I had immense support from Ms Eliza Lim , who was very supportive of Bryan ’ s interest as his drone skills offered us an alternative view from a higher angle . This was something that not many other photographers could offer at that time .
During one of the first few test flights in SJI , the noise caught the attention of some boys who were passing by and one boy , Caleb Tan commented , “ Wow , Mr Poh . Can I join the Cool Kids Club ?” This passing remark surfaced in my mind the thought of starting the photography club again - helping boys who have the skills but no opportunities to practise and hone their talents in photography .
It was a slow process to establish the Club , as there was much red tape to clear due to safety and security issues . Nonetheless , we saw some boys from our NCC Air who offered to help during our school events and soon , more boys caught on to the news and began to ask questions about our activities and volunteer to serve the school through this special arrangement in exchange for VIA hours .
Currently , the Club provides opportunities for student photographers to be trained via talks and workshops and to participate in competitions from partners like the NUS Photography Society and relatives of students who are working in related industries . We also hold several internal competitions from time to time for our students so that they can focus on a certain topic during various months of the year .
Some time this year , one of our students from Year 2 Kayden Ee initiated the SJI Wildlife Photography Club with advice from Mr Genesius Chan . His special interest in this area has led him to brave tough terrain , insects , sun , rain in the rugged parts of Singapore during his free time , just to capture wildlife in action . He also enlisted his uncle ’ s help to partner with us in
this fun-tastic journey of discovering light in a new way . I hope that eventually there will be more students who are willing to rise up to the challenge and keep this Club going and to serve SJI in a manner that is beyond what we can imagine !
We have a Google Classroom to communicate with boys who are interested in photography in SJI . If you are interested in joining us as a hobby , you can join us in the Google Classroom via the QR code .
This page ( top ): An aerial shot by Bryan on one of the test flight sessions
This page ( upper right ): Portraiture Photo by Tan Jun Jie LE203
This page ( centre right ): Wildlife Photo by Kayden Ee ML202
This page ( bottom , left to right ): “ Food ” by Chen Wei En James Ryan ML301 and “ Food ” by Shane Lee Yu Xiang FN303