GWEN LEE

After 6 years of experience in the museum industry, Gwen Lee went on to pursue her first love, photography. Since then, Gwen has tumbled down the rabbit hole into the Wonderland of Silver Halides. Together with the new friends she made, a photo collective known as The Meeting Point was established in 2005. However, curiosity got the better of her and resulted in a biennale photo festival in 2008 which is commonly known as Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF), an international photography platform in Southeast Asia. For her daring vision, she received a Creative Talent Grant from Creative Community, a government agency, which started an online platform for photographers. While all these were taking place, a creative haven for photography, 2902 Gallery was born on 29 Feb 2008. Since then, Gwen has curated & organised close to 25 photography exhibitions. Despite her heavy schedule, she continues to give talks on professional development for photographers and organises programmes for young photographers.

SORAYA YUSOF TALISMAIL

Soraya Yusof Talismail is one of Malaysia’s foremost fine art photographers, often working in black and white. She has photographed the portraits of many statesmen, international politicians and local celebrities throughout her career. In 2008, she published a tome of portraits of renown Malaysian visual artists titled ‘Imaging Selfs’, which accompanied a public exhibition at the Petronas Gallery, Kuala Lumpur which also travelled to New York in 2009. Often working on medium to long term projects, Soraya continues photographing in film.

KHAIRUL AZRIL ISMAIL

Khairul Azril Ismail is both an academician and a practicing photographer with numerous credits to his name. He presently lectures photographic history and practice at University of Technology MARA (UiTM), and previously, at Lim Kok Wing Institute. Recent solo exhibitions include large scale black and white studies inside Pudu Jail, titled ‘Live Animals Inside!’, and ‘Iron Dragons of Malaya’ a photo-documentation of the defunct Malayan railway buildings in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur. Khairul also participated in the Singapore International Photography Festival in 2008.

STEPHANIE FONG

Stephanie Fong founded FOST Gallery, Singapore in 2006. The focus of the gallery is to provide local and international artists with a platform for critical dialogue and exploration of contemporary art practices, and a vibrant selection of art and customised advisory services for collectors. FOST Gallery presents curated solo or group exhibitions regularly, with a particular emphasis on identifying current issues of interest to artists, and showcasing stimulating art practices. Stephanie has played an important role in the curatorial process of exhibitions such as Woman on Woman: Lace and Drawing Out Conversations. Despite its relative youth, the gallery has already built a reputation for being one of the most forward thinking art spaces in Singapore with many of its award winning artists represented in important national and private collections. It has hosted renowned Singaporean photographers like Francis Ng and Chris Yap. Collaborating with international galleries, FOST Gallery has also shown works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall and David Hockney.

LIM CHEE WAH

Lim Chee Wah is the editor for Time Out KL, the local edition of an international title best known for its credible city guides. Within the magazine’s short existence since a much anticipated launch in April 2008, Time Out KL has been very vocal in addressing the many issues facing KL today – from food to art to the oft-criticised public transportation system. He is also the section editor for ‘Consume’ (dedicated to shopping, style, spa, wellness and health) and ‘Travel’. Coming from a travel photojournalism background, Chee Wah believes that travelling keeps his cynicism in check. He often muses over the fact that he is in a professional position to encourage people to find beauty in a world that is turning increasingly ugly. He has been a judge for several photography competitions and has also appeared as a guest host for a travel show on Australia. He thinks KL needs to pay more attention to its architectural heritage, especially those old colonial buildings. Currently, he is fascinated by the graffiti scene that is sweeping across the city.