Seller of Joy (售喜)

Seller of Joy (售喜)
Photography has always encouraged me to look beyond the obvious subject and consider the stories that surround it. In this scene from Shenzhen, China, the balloons naturally draw attention. However, it was the vendor carrying them who held my gaze. The photograph became a reflection on the unseen effort behind the small moments of happiness that brighten our daily lives.

I am honoured that Seller of Joy (售喜) has been selected for the 21st Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition (NAPE) 2026. The exhibition holds special significance for my family, as my late father, Tan Lip Seng, was the inaugural Photographer of the Year when the exhibition was first launched in 2005 and remained a regular contributor for many years thereafter.

Cooling Off

Cooling Off
After a Vesak Day visit to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, I was waiting in line for lunch when I noticed this young girl quietly absorbed in a freshly opened coconut while her father queued for food nearby. Taken candidly and unnoticed amid the lunchtime crowd, it was one of those fleeting moments that might easily have passed by unnoticed, but her complete concentration on the coconut, seemingly oblivious to everything around her, caught my eye.

Passing Through 路过

Passing Through 路过
Taken at the OCT Loft Creative Culture Park in Shenzhen on a holiday visit last November… A passer-by moves across a mural depicting bodies in motion. For a fleeting moment, the living figure seems to continue the painted sequence. The photograph explores the relationship between art and life, stillness and movement, and how we quietly pass through spaces layered with stories before us.