Hengki Lee Photography: The Beauty of Being Different

Hengki Lee

Hengki Lee is a photographer enthusiast from Jakarta, Indonesia, who loves music and plays some instruments. Beside that he also loves to read or write poetry. Hengki has a Bachelor degree in business and economic, he does trading for living and photography works as a hobby. It was a great pleasure for us to take an interview with Hengki Lee, who shared some interesting facts of his biography. We wish you a pleasant reading and viewing of Hengki Lee photography.

AP: Hi Hengki, thank you very much for coming out. We are very happy that you could find some time to give us an interview. We hope you will enjoy answering our questions. Could you please tell me what got you started?

Hengki: It was in 2004, when I browsed some pre-wedding photos I realized that I have interest in photography. I found photography so beautiful when I looked at the photos of one great candid wedding photographer in Jakarta Indonesia.

Couples of years later, I decided to join one of local Indonesian photography community website, and then I bought my first DSLR in August 2009. At that time, I didn’t have any idea what to make with my camera. So I just tried to take some conceptual still life shots with very simple lighting method. Then I observed some artistic moody shots from several good photographers on some websites and got interested to try myself in that genre and I am doing that stuff until now.

Where Ever You Go…

AP: That’s a very nice start, Hengki! Do you have any formal education in photography or were you self-taught?

Hengki: No, I’m a self-taught photographer. I learn photography by reading some books and tutorials.

AP: And could you please share the information of the genre you work in?

Hengki: I think my genre is surrealistic poetic photography. The difficulty of this genre is about to get a striking mood with poetic expression. I like to work in specific genre, because by doing this the photos have a strong and specific character.

AP: I agree with you, your photos are really sustained in the same style. How would you describe your images?

Hengki: My images are simply about curiosity, dream, poetry and emotion. “The beauty of being different” is the message I am trying to get across by portraying works which do not belong to the mainstream.

Serene

AP: These are great words! What kind of equipment and techniques do you use to take your pictures?

Hengki: I use Sony Alpha 850 DSLR with several lenses. In some of my work, I also use Lensbaby. I use Adobe photoshop CS4 for editing with Nik plugin Software.

AP: Which artists do you use for references?

Hengki: Andreas Kauppi. I love his work, so artistic, strong and emotional.

AP: Do you have any dream project? What is it?

Hengki: To build a big an online creative artist community. To become an inspiration for others in visual art and photography.

To The Limit

AP: We wish your dreams to definitely come true. Do you have any formula for success in your activity? Did you participate in any contests, projects or exhibitions?

Hengki: Just follow your heart, capture the essence of the scene and put your emotion in that. So your work will be unique and speaking loudly to the audience.

Some of my recognitions:

3rd place (bronze medal winner) in the category of Special: Digitally Enhanced Non Pro, in International Photography Awards 2011;
Published in “Beyond” – A Highly Curated Year Book of 1x.com 2011 (Along with other 220 recognized and skilled photographers);
One of Finalists in “Salon Photo Indonesia” XXXII 2011 (The Biggest and the most recognized Annual photography competition in Indonesia);
Won the 3rd place in 7th Black and White Spider Award Photo Contest “Honor of Distinction” 2012, Category: Silhouette (Amateur);
Won the 1st Place (Gold Medal Winner) in Book Proposal category (Series Only) Non Professional in Px3 photo competition 2012;
Won the 2nd place (Silver Medal Winner) in Fine Art category – Abstract Non Professional in Px3 photo competition 2012;
Won the FOTOFERIA BRONZE MEDAL AWARD at Fotoferia International Exhibition 2012 Photo Contest.

The Dream Catcher

Project:

Visual Huesca project The Leap Photographs in Huesca, Spain February 2012.

To visually interpret texts from Ramon J. Sender’s book, Memorias Bisiestas, to mark the 111th anniversary of his birth.

Exhibition:

Exhibition of the winning work of Px3 2012 & Altered Images on July 10, 2012.

Espace DUPON.

Paris, France.

AP: Thank you for sharing your list of achievements. It is impressive. Is there someone who supports you in your creativity?

Hengki: I gain a great moral support from my wife.

Reverie

AP: Tell us three lessons you believe are really important for every photographer?

Respect other people’s work.
Follow your heart.
Keep on practice and be consistent in what you do.

Hengki thank you very much for sharing such interesting and impressive success story about photography. I am sure your readers will find it useful. We wish you great success, further achievements and continued inspiration in all your endeavors. To learn more about Hengki Lee photography, please visit his personal webpage on 500px.com.