MENG KARBACH: "My camera is my canvas and light is my paint, ... they are the tools for me to capture the magical moment called art or beauty"

When I was handed my first "toy" camera as a kid, I discovered I was drawn to capturing images ... animals, people, things ... You name it and I was snapping at it with my "toy" camera, regardless that there was no film in my camera. This was the start of my journey of accquisition to possess a "real" working camera. Through my godparents, they gave me my first camera - a Yashica 35ME rangefinder. Any extra pocket money was spent on my new found obsession. Snapping at anything that caught my fancy. Then showing the developed images to my family or anyone that had displayed any faint interest. Sometimes to the dismay of my mother. She was quite horrified with some of the chosen subject. It could have ended my passion. However, thanks to my  brother - Joon Num, he taught me to march to a different drummer. He taught me a new truth ... that beauty is within the eyes of the beholder.

Through the years, I have collected and used various camera models and its respective lenses and accessories ranging from a 35mm film SLR, digital point & shoot, digital SLR, medium film format (6x6) and to my current favourites ... the vintage folding medium format (6x6) and (6x9). Also I have discovered the old adage of "returning to one's childhood" is so true. I have rediscovered my "toy" camera ... the HOLGA. This "toy" camera has recently joined my arsenal of cameras for regular shoot as well.

I grew up in an environment where people, places and things were steeped in mystic beliefs, superstitions and eastern philosophies. These beliefs were forged deeply into my psyche. These deep rooted beliefs made me feel (or sense) everything around me that resonates a purpose in life ... from the cool early morning mist hugging tightly to the ground, to the hot silky sand running through my toes, to the lingering smell of "salty" air left by the ocean spray, to the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves just before a thunderstorm. It is through these "senses" that I feel compelled to capture it ... that feeling and memory ... at that moment in time. The need to capture it in a way to immortalize that very instant for years to come. This feeling amounted to awe, a dreamy like state, a feeling of warmth, sometimes a touch of humour and even mystical at times. It is through this feeling that I have come to appreciate everything around us ... and celebrate life.

Photography or painting with light not only has given me the humble ability to capture that feeling and memory, but to convey and share that instant as best as I can.

Art or beauty is not predefined and never will be ... it is within the eyes of the beholder. It is my own humble attempt to bring you to that place and moment in time ... to experience that feeling and memory with me. If I am able to achieve that, even a tiny faint flicker with just one image, then I have miraculously conveyed that magical moment or instant called ... art or beauty.

Smile, light and snapz!

Meng Karbach