Tan Ngiap Heng is among the most celebrated names in Singapore. His creative work has left a strong imprint in the world of wedding, portrait, and dramatic arts photography. His love for dance got him to appreciate the human form and his growing interest in the human body has produced some of the most captivating nudes and stunning portraits. Apart from professional photography, Heng also shares his knowledge on studio portrait lighting through his individual workshops.

Having spent years studying engineering, how did you turn to photography as a career?
Even as I was studying engineering, I was spending a lot of time dancing. After engineering, I spent a year in the London Contemporary Dance School training to be a dancer but I could not handle the physical stress. So I ended up going back to Singapore and started working as an arts administrator. But I could not get dance out of my system and started taking photographs of dance at the LaSalle School of the Arts. The editor of the Arts Magazine saw my photographs and asked me to shoot for the magazine. After shooting for various arts groups in Singapore for the magazine, I left arts administration and became a photographer for the arts.

When was your first encounter with a camera?
My first encounter with a camera was at the age of twenty-one. I bought a compact camera to go on an adventure trip to Northern India. I travelled with some avid photographic enthusiasts and came back to Singapore with some wonderful photographs. I was bitten by the photography bug and bought my first DSLR, a Nikon 401.

I think that my interest in nudes started as an extension of my love for dance and the dancer's body.

Your love for dance made you take up Performing Arts Photography. You have also studied dance for a year. How big a part does this play when it comes to capturing the emotions of a performer?
I think this is critical. I actually wanted to be a dancer much more than I wanted to be a photographer, at least in the beginning of my photographic career. When I danced, there was a sense of being completely alive, it was a very joyful feeling. I really love dancing. So in my dance photography, not only do I understand the technicality of dance, I am also driven to express this sense of being alive in my images. And since the dancers I shoot also have similar experiences, it is easy to collaborate with them.

Your portfolio covers everything from wedding to portrait photography. Which genre do you enjoy the most? Why?
The human being is the common factor in the scope of my photography. In that sense, all my work is portraiture and that is something I enjoy the most. Even in my dance photographs, I don’t force a dancer to work under my concept. When I take a photograph of the dancer, I try to show some physical or emotional aspect of the individual which is again portraiture.

What interests me now is the common humanity that we all share. I am interested in finding a connection with my subjects, something real which teaches me more about life. Through my portraits, I hope to unveil some understanding of what it means to be human.

You are known for your beautiful nudes and you have also won an award in the Fine Art Nudes’ category at the International Photography Awards competition. How did you step into this genre?
I think that my interest in nudes started as an extension of my love for dance and the dancer's body. It is obvious to take a dancer in a dance pose, but I believe that the dancer's body also has its own characteristics. The dancer's body is both strong as well as supple. So even if it is not in a dance pose, a dancer's body is still beautiful and different from an office worker's body or an athlete's body. So I began taking photographs of dancers’ bodies which eventually got me interested in the human form in general.

We are aware of your love for photographing human subjects. But have you ever tried your hand at Nature Photography?
I think that I am an urban person. I do appreciate Nature photography by other people, but I have never pursued it myself.

You have won numerous awards in your highly successful career. Which one of those means the most to you? Why?
I photographed dancers from the Singapore Dance Theatre for a calendar and that got me into the PDN photography Annual in 2008. That meant the most to me because it was my dance photography.

Tell us more about your book, ‘Dance me through the Dark ‘?
After being a wedding photographer for about four years, I stopped and decided to become a corporate portrait photographer. The problem at this point of time was that I had been caught up in 'commercial' photography and was artistically dry. Then one of the dancers from Singapore Dance Theatre, Robert Mills, asked me to take some dance photographs for him. And that got me excited about photography again.

As I was shooting publicity photographs for Singapore Dance Theatre, I knew most of the dancers well and I started asking them to collaborate with me. So based on who the dancers were, I would think of a way that I could best photograph them. For example, I was the one who shot the wedding of the couple on the cover of my book, Hai Ying and Jacek. So I could take the most romantic pictures of them because I knew who they were. After two years of shooting, I had an exhibition of my work called 'Dance me through the Dark'. And the book is from that exhibition.

The title 'Dance me through the Dark', is actually from the lyrics of the song Dance Me Love sung by Silje Nergaard. Dance has been the thing that has helped me through many difficult periods of my life and the title captured this idea beautifully.

Post production is important if it helps communicate the idea or concept of the photographer.

How did you come up with the name ‘Pond’ for your studio? Is the name of any particular significance?
I have a politically correct answer for this, but the truth is that it started all the way back in school. My nickname was Froggy. When I bought computer programmes, I would enter 'Froggy' as my name and 'The Pond' as the company. When I actually started my business, I could not come up with a better name. I just knew that I did not want a photography related name.

You also conduct workshops on studio portrait lighting. Do you enjoy teaching as much as you love photography?
It is strange because I do not consider myself as a very patient person. So I never thought that I would enjoy teaching. But I enjoy sharing my love for photography. So although I would prefer to take a photograph than teach, it makes me happy to share my love and experience of photography with other people.

What are your thoughts on post production in photography?
Post production is important if it helps communicate the idea or concept of the photographer. We all know that back in the days of black and white film, Ansel Adams burned and dodged his images to create his vision. But a lot of other photographers did terrible prints of their work. Likewise, a well crafted image with post production is a well crafted image. The problem is that we see so many bad examples of post production that it has influenced us to believe that it is a bad thing.

What or who have been the most telling influences on your work through your career?
Well, obviously dance is what got me started as a photographer. I tell people that I am an accidental photographer. The photographer that taught me the craft of photography was Paul Elledge. His work inspired me. So I did a workshop with him and I finally interned with him in Chicago for three months. He helped ground my photographic foundation.

The next most important influence is the Swedish photographer, Anders Peterson. He taught me that living and interacting with my subjects beyond a superficial level was the most important thing, and photography is only a by product. Anders tells people to stop hiding behind the camera. So that is what inspired me to let go of my studio staff and work as a freelancer again. Now I am looking for opportunities to live more and keep my photography simple.

	Quick 8: Your Favourite Camera: The iPhone camera Your Favourite Printer: Epson 4800 Your Favourite Shoot: It is a portrait of another photographer in Tuscany, but I have promised her to never show the photograph in public. So my favourite photograph in my life is only for private viewing. Your Preferred Location: Tuscany  Favourite Photographer: Paolo Roversi Most memorable story: A lot happened in the week when I took Anders Peterson's course in Tuscany. Anders was urging the participants to be animals, to accept ourselves and to confront ourselves. I decided to shoot a male photographer almost nude in a toilet because I was not comfortable being close up with another male. I was confronting my fear of homosexuality. The male photographer agreed to pose topless for me when he heard my reason for taking such a portrait. When he took off his shirt, there were round scars on the side of his chest. It turned out that he used to be an extreme sportsman and had stopped training abruptly instead of tapering down. So his lungs had expanded and nearly suffocated his heart twice. On both occasions he had to have an operation to remove liquid from his lungs to save his life. The portraits I took of him were very strong. It was this and other such incidents, from that week, which helped me realize that living life fully is the key to compelling photographs. Photography is secondary to living. Current photographers you like: Anders Peterson, Paul Elledge, Daido Moriyama, Albert Watson, Josef Kuldelka and Sarah Moon. Toughest day at work: Shooting a wedding on the weekend when I broke off my own engagement.

Photos by Tan Ngiap Heng | Fotosocial