About ~isms

[∫iz(∂)m/ suffix forming nouns, esp. denoting 1) an action of its results; 2) a system, principle or ideological movement; 3) a state of quality; and 4) a pathological condition]

Terence is a documentary photographer based in Singapore. He has received no formal training since picking up his father's camera at age eight more than twenty-five years ago. He's been a journeyman of sorts all his life, in many ways, before realising at the end of 2003 that he would rather take the chance on something he dearly loves. He promptly resigned from the civil service and has had no regrets since, running a registered business, ~ismspictures.

In January 2005, he was part of a team sent by Mercy Relief to the tsunami-devastated town of Meulaboh in Aceh, Indonesia, to help clean up and repair one of only 7 of the 153 schools still operational in preparation for classes to resume the following week. Images from that trip have been shown at the Esplanade and The Atrium @ Orchard from March to April 2005 as part of the Glimpses of Light series of exhibitions. They have also been published in SALT, a bi-monthly magazine of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), Asian Geographic and distributed worldwide by Redux Pictures. He has since been to several relief missions with Mercy Relief, to Nias and Muzaffarabad. His images from a shoot in Phuket in September 2005 were used in a 2007 book, Heart Of A Lion, to commemorate the second anniversary of the tsunami.

In 2004, while on the set of Cages, a joint Hollywood-Singapore movie, documenting the project as part of a team and providing the digital imaging work for the movie as Effects Photographer, Terence was introduced to the world of filmmaking. On a lark, he and some friends sent in an entry for the Fly By Night Video Challenge in 2005. The short film, I’ll Live A Day For You, was awarded the Judges’ Choice and Audience Choice prizes.

In late 2005, he was once again called to collaborate with the same friends to produce a new short film based on a short story written by Tay Kay Chin. Terence was scriptwriter for this new film. Initially written as 6 episodes to be aired online, it became a full-length feature after overwhelming response from netizens. Becoming Royston was filmed in May 2006 and has since been entered in the International Torun Film Festival in Poland, the Jakarta International Film Festival and Cineasian Film Festival in Cologne. The film was nominated in the Asian Festival of First Films 2006 for Best Cinematography, Best Script and Best Actor. The movie is also in the Berlin Asian Hot Shots Festival in January 2008.

In 2007, he tried out the role of director in a movie written as part of a collaboration with nine others. Based on an original script, principal filming was done in November 2007, in between trips with the NGO, Lien Aid, as primary photographer.

In 2008, while on sabbatical from photography, Terence was communications manager at Mercy Relief.

In his spare time, he writes scripts for movies that will probably never be filmed in his lifetime and takes long rides on his motorcyle.

Previous Clients
Anglo-Chinese Junior College
Arsenal Singapore, Official Arsenal Supporters Club
Caffeine Creative
Daniel Tan & Shereen Ng
David Tan & Melody Lim
DFS Singapore
Greenhouse Communication
Hermes
Housing Development Board
Lien Aid
Mercy Relief
Michael Barr & Shamira Bhanu
Millennia Institute
munkysuperstar Productions
NUS Dance Ensemble
Peter Ng & Ho Liling
Port of Singapore Authority Corporation (PSA)
Raffles Junior College
SimplyHer magazine
Singapore Heart Foundation
Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA)
STAGES
The Straits Times
Swissôtel The Stamford
Tanjong Katong Secondary School
Temasek Academy
Temasek Junior College
Victoria Junior College
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music