TOA Students Uncover the Beauty of Life

The recently held photography sharing session by The One Academy witnessed students uncovered the beauty of life through photography from physically impaired yet determined photographer – Luke Chua Tze Kah.

A brief introduction about Luke Chua; Luke is a wheelchair user who suffered from spinal cord injury as a result of accidental fall since the age of 17. Luke eventually became a basketball player attached with the Majlis Sukan Negara after recuperating from surgeries. He picked up photography as a form of hobby to balance his athletic life 2 years ago and started researching online to learn more about photography before attending related courses along with buying his first DSLR camera.           

Initially, Luke spent time observing on streets whilst exploring different angles e.g. macro, landscape and portrait he can use to snap pictures with his DSLR. Amid his physical limitation, Luke demonstrated creativity in shooting images by leaning his back against the wheelchair, utilising camera gear like tripod for high angle shoot or simply through assistance from his wife.

However, he soon realised his flaw of unable to master the concept of proportion and understanding of how to combine different objects without disrupting the overall image when his close friend highlighted to him that he is lacking of skills when it comes to composing visual images. Luke was later introduced with the concept of Rule of Thirds, a guideline which emphasise on composing photographs, designs and paintings through dividing an image into 9 equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. Alignment of objects with these points will produce more energy and dramatic effect in the overall composition instead of just simply centering an object when snapping pictures.

In addition to the lacking of professional photography knowledge, Luke learnt that he needs to incorporate story-telling technique and aesthetic value in terms of composing quality pictures from other like-minded photographers. Luke also participated in contests and events to have a better understanding of how judges evaluate photographs. “Taking part in these activities helped me to discover ways to see things in different perspectives because art presents in many forms and it all depends on how the individual expresses it”, Luke highlighted.

Being an art & design institution which advocates creative thinking, The One Academy constantly imbues students that they need to break out from established routines in order to create or discover something new.
During the sharing session, Luke clarified the difference between the concept of imagination and visualisation by explaining to students that imagination is when one develops his own sense of creativity as an artist whilst visualisation is the process of determining what photography techniques to be applied in handling different scenarios.

Besides, Luke emphasised that one needs to continue using different approaches to achieve different results. “Try experiment high angle and low angle shoots to know what effects it will bring and what sorts of elements are missing in the pictures,” quipped Luke. Impressed with Luke’s wit and wisdom, The One Academy’s students were keen to find out more details and proceeded to actively asking him other aspects of being an all-rounder photographer. 

As a street photographer, Luke rely his gut feeling at times, be observant as well as being flexible in adapting to different environments that may bring upon obstacles for him in taking pictures.  “Be alert with your surroundings and don’t try taking pictures without asking permission of the individual you want to photograph,” Luke commented. Moreover, Luke advised students that it is instrumental to adopt continuous mode when shooting distance images and moving objects as one can also zoom in thus adjusting the shutter speed when necessary.

Evoking innate creativity of students through professional coaching and interactive sharing sessions is at the heart of what we do.  The One Academy prides itself to be one of the world’s top creative institutions and always believe that our graduates will the trend setters of tomorrow’s creative arena. The sharing session ended with the presentation of certificate of appreciation by The One Academy’s course director for digital art, Mr Lee Loong Wun to Luke, commending his continuous dedication of producing photographs that spoke of style and originality.

This exclusive sharing is just one of the many organised events that exemplifies The One Academy’s commitment in grooming young creative aspirants through opportunities to gain insights from industry expert in line with our “Masters Train Masters” teaching philosophy.