A lot of things happened for me in 2009. I travelled a lot between Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, published some of my work with Breeze (a local magazine), relocated to the big city, discovered Europe for the first time, became the official photographer for Malaysia International Fashion Week 2009. In a way a lot of it happened quite unexpectedly. I decided staying in Kota Kinabalu would not be the best idea so I packed up and left for Kuala Lumpur in less than 3 weeks. Arriving in KL I was jobless for a few months until I landed the biggest job I’ve had so far for Fashion Week. Going to Europe had always been a distant dream of mine but one day I saw the opportunity and decided, why not? It’s all about grabbing life by its horns and going with it.
These are some of my favourite works from 2009. It was quite hard for me to narrow it down to 10, so I decided on 25 instead (I’m really bad at cutting down numbers!). Some of them you may have seen, but some not. I went through my library of photos and found hidden gems that I overlooked and decided to show them here.
Hope you like them!
Karin Balzli for Catherine Lian, Kuala Lumpur.
Nataliya Zapolina, Singapore.
Andrea Fonseka, Kuala Lumpur.
Grace Kho for Breeze, Kota Kinabalu.
Charlene Decena for Breeze, Kota Kinabalu.
Mariann Vella for Villiam Ooi, Kuala Lumpur.
Patricia Silk, Singapore.
Suzana Abu for Ratu by Walis, Kuala Lumpur.
Mila Melissina for Syomir, Kuala Lumpur.
Wang Ying, Bangkok.
Iva Sakarova, Bangkok.
Kaspar Hebblewhite, Bangkok.
Brygida Naumowicz & Helena Berezina for Pretty In White, Kuala Lumpur.
This was one of my last shoots for Breeze before I moved to Kuala Lumpur and in conjunction with Breeze’s 1st Anniversary party 2 months ago the clothes were provided by Baleno and IP Zone. I have to admit, it was tough trying to make casual wear a little more…. fashionable but after hours of making rounds through the store we managed to pick a few items to shoot with. Our models were Charlene and Mark, Grace (from the Androgynous shoot) to assist me on the styling, hair and makeup and Richard as my ever ready assistant.
Quick fitting with the models.
Routine hair and makeup. Plus a big mess.
I had no idea where to shoot until the very last minute and decided to just go up to my trusty rooftop, one of my favourite places to shoot simply because of the vast space, view and convenience. I may have exhausted it a little too much though. Oops. I do not recommend it for people with Acrophobia because it is 18 floors high and on the edge of a hill. Hehe.
Mark taking in the view.
Grace with her ‘guns’ ready to terminate all lovey-doveys.
Give me your PMS face! More pain, more pain!!
The shoot may have seemed very simple but I found it to be quite a challenge because of limitations to how creative I could get. Looking back at it now I think I could’ve pushed a little more but we did exhaust ourselves for it. Simple clothes and simple setup felt more difficult than it seems, hard to believe I know. Again as with all Breeze shoots, the video and the pages.
Thank goodness for ice cream and long sessions at Mosaic. Oh yeah.
Off we go! (I drive a HUGE antique Benz, if you were wondering)
Ok, this post is long overdue and about time I write all this down. Before I started on my 6-week trip I had another shoot for Breeze. Finding a suitable model for this was quite a challenge because I wanted to go in an androgynous direction. Yes, it’s been done a million times before but we all love it and I haven’t seen enough of it in local publications. So anyway, which model would be willing to allow me to transform them into either sex or looked like it could be remotely possible?
The answer is Grace Kho. I’ve worked with her before a year ago and she really stood out amongst all the other girls. Humble, funny, and totally on the same wavelength as I am, shooting with her was a pleasure because we understand what each other want. LOVE.
Fitting, makeup, fitting, makeup.
The process of making Grace look like a man. Or sort of.
The ever helpful Richard Nelson played a big role in this shoot. He was a major hand in helping me search for the models, location, work behind the scenes, take unnecessary photos and do bits and pieces for this shoot. In fact, he was the one who suggested that I use Grace. Richard is a very friendly and chatty personality to have around, which is good to help break the tense concentration I tend to have sometimes on overbear on myself. I have also never in my life seen anyone offering themselves to be my slave. Yikes.
“Oh my God, what did Michele do to my face!?”
I like this shot very much. I really need to get my nails done though.
We photographed under a flyover in the Karamunsing area. When I told this to people, they gave me a weird look and wondering how on earth I decided to shoot there. Again, Richard first suggested this location to me. I never thought about using the place since we seem to overlook that area though we’ve been there a thousand times. I’m really glad I listened to him and it was perfect for the dramatic lighting I wanted to get.
Curious spectators at the bus stop across the street from us.
More curious spectators.
Check out all those clips, they actually do an excellent job at holding the clothes tightly.
Shooting in that area was interesting because a lot of pedestrians walk pass to get to the bus stop or shopping mall across from where we were. Every time someone walked by we would get weird stares and even questions, the most common being “Is this for a magazine?”. Seriously, I didn’t realised you cared! I guess Grace was being too fabulous of a model and regular people have never seen a proper one in action before. Malaysians are incredibly curious. Then again, I got the same curious audience when I shot in Khaosan (Bangkok) and Redcliffe (Brisbane) as well.
People have mentioned that I tend to pose with the model, which I didn’t believe till I saw this photo.
Digital cameras make things too easy sometimes.
I am really pleased with the result of the shoot and the great team that came with it although it was actually just the 3 of us. It’s a pity that I was given only 2 pages to show the photos, would’ve to have loved more! (Note to Editor: Jonathan, are you reading this??)
Pages of the magazine. I myself have not even seen the physical copy yet.
Another photo that I love, but is unpublished.
Unpublished photo but I could not resist posting it here.
I have a number more unpublished photos but I’m too lazy to post them up here. Maybe if you beg or buy me dinner I would consider showing them to you :p Anyway you must watch the Behind The Scenes video as well, simply because I put a lot of time into making them. He he he. I need to feel the love. I’m rambling too much now, bonne nuit!
Thanks for pulling a great effort, see you when I get back xx.
Time for the March update of the Breeze editorials. The team was much smaller this time with Lyora Kok (Lulue) as the model. She has been in a couple of pageants including Unduk Ngadau (Harvest Festival Queen), and Miss Oriental. Standing at 5′8″, she’s one of the taller girls around. I guess I shouldn’t expect to have leggy models that will be at least 5′9″ or taller here sigh.
I did the make-up this time with assistance from Atiyah Athmat (Tya) for hair as well as everything else. We drove out to Rasa Ria to shoot at the beach. I was secretly hoping (or not so secretly) for the cows to be there in the morning but we arrived a few hours too late. My friends believe I have some sort of cow fetish since I always mention about going to locations with cows, but I don’t! I swear!
No, I did not opt for the Medusa-styled hair. Those are twigs behind her.
The skies were actually that blue. Gorgeous view, not so gorgeous weather (insanely hideous heat).
It was so insanely bright and sunny that I think Tya even managed to get a tan while out there. I felt dizzy every time I stood up because of the sudden rush of blood to my head from squatting and shooting in that sort of heat. This was probably my fastest shoot in a long time, just 1 hour! You don’t have to guess why.
Not sure why but this time the images appear for only a split second. Youtube has issues!
The final magazine layout.
I’m now arranging two more shoots for this month and am still URGENTLY looking for models, make-up artists, hair stylists, clothing stylists and assistants who are willing to participate. Priority goes to people who I’ve not worked with before. Remember, you will be published in Breeze, so please don’t expect any monetary payment.
Those interested please send me an email at info@micheleyong.com stating your intent.
No kidding about the low blood sugar. Look at how pale my lips are!
Apologies for the lack of updates for the past month. I’m still trying to get used to this whole blog thing and it’s pretty hard for me to make it a habit and consistently post updates. Hats off to those who do this just about everyday and actually maintain to stay somewhat entertaining!
I had a few photos published in a local lifestyle magazine this month and even though it was just 2 pages, I think it’s a good way to get my work known around town as it is widely distributed in Kota Kinabalu, smaller towns around Sabah and just recently, Kuching (in Sarawak–a neighbouring state).
The editor’s conditions were to use local models. A little challenging for me since I haven’t been model scouting much around and it isn’t exactly easy for me to find the right kind of models here. My honest opinion. Not to say impossible, just very challenging hence the need for a model casting I’m hosting on Sunday but more about that in another post.
For this particular shoot I chose to work with Jennifer Pedersen. She was one of the first few girls I photographed a few years ago, also a local legend for winning the Seventeen cover girl search a couple years back. Also working together were Jeffie Jeff for hair and makeup and Melina Tay for styling. Special thanks to Stephanie Lok and Ian Chinn for being partial entertainment and helping with Behind The Scenes <3.
Here’s a look into what went down:
For some weird reason, black squares appear on the over-exposed areas in the video but just try to ignore them.
The pages.
I decided to also include the unpublished photos and some others enlarged below, for your viewing pleasure.
After a long exhausting day, we pretty much looked like something the cat dragged in as a result of a tight time constraints and power cuts. How glamorous.
Goodness, I really need to lose some weight off my cheeks!
Karin Balzli for Catherine Lian, Kuala Lumpur.
Nataliya Zapolina, Singapore.
Andrea Fonseka, Kuala Lumpur.
Grace Kho for Breeze, Kota Kinabalu.
Charlene Decena for Breeze, Kota Kinabalu.
Mariann Vella for Villiam Ooi, Kuala Lumpur.
Suzana Abu for Ratu by Walis, Kuala Lumpur.
Mila Melissina for Syomir, Kuala Lumpur.
Iva Sakarova, Bangkok.
Kaspar Hebblewhite, Bangkok.
Brygida Naumowicz & Helena Berezina for Pretty In White, Kuala Lumpur.
Mariya Markova for PEGG, Kuala Lumpur.
Aline Thiel for Glitz & Glamour, Kuala Lumpur.
Matheus Nagel for William Liew, Kuala Lumpur.
sigh.
