As independent musicians get more and more attention and recognition these days, a growing number of them are seen to get more serious about producing not only good music, but projecting a good image and polishing their personalities as well. It is with this growth too that we see many young and upcoming designers, photographers, video makers and stylists paving their way through the scene, helping their musician buddies with their creative minds (and hands ïŠ). That is why we feel the need to highlight these creative individuals too, for their passion and creativity that makes the whole independent music culture more vibrant and ever so awesome!
So, having the privilege to be Hypptunes first … uumm shall I call it D.I.Y. ROCKS! ‘cover boy’ (haha) is a freelance photographer by the name of Saiful a.k.a Cipoi from SenselessArt Photography.
Saiful a.k.a Cipoi
Ahmad Saiful Ahmad Fadzil a.k.a Cipoi is also the creative mind behind SenselessArt Photography. He’s a Business Administration (majoring in Finance) degree holder and a self-taught photographer. Cipoi is a free spirited kind of guy who is really into rock music photography, a kind of photography that is rarely pursued professionally in Malaysia. He was born on 13th May 1982 and is currently residing in Ampang, Selangor. An avid fan of the Perak football club, Cipoi strives to survive as an entrepreneur mainly in the photography business and hopes that one day, the hardcore metal music scene in Malaysia will soon get the exposure that they deserve…say no to Sean Kingston.
And to give you some additional info, I had Saiful answer some questions…
1. What made you become a photographer?
Actually I didn’t plan to be a photographer, never thought that I would be one…it just suddenly happened. My interest in photography started quite late, after my studies in Uniten. Yes, my background is in Finance.It started out as a hobby; camera outing with my friends and taking photos after office hours.
After working for few years with a GLC company, I wanted a change in working environment and applied for all kinds of jobs mainly executive positions, except for one, which is an opening for a photographer for an online web directory company. The funny thing is, none of the companies replied my applications except for the photography job.
After a few test shots and interviews, I got the job, which is quite cool considering their office is in Singapore, and I was working in KL alone and most of the discussions and work submissions were done through the internet. I took pictures of buildings all around Kuala Lumpur; it made me feel like a tourist sometimes.
So, from then on, I started to learn more about photography, and until today I’m still learning to be better. I started to learn more about wedding photography, studio shots and events, considering I’ve more time on my own (no office). I’m mostly self-taught but I do get some help from my small circle of photographer friends.
At the same time, I discovered my passion in photos related to bands; concerts, gigs and such i.e rock music photography. Almost every weekend if I’m free, I’d go to any gig to practice my skills. Well, most of the gigs are hardcore metal gigs because I like the vibe and the sheer intensity from the bands, yes..independent bands. My first published photo was in Malaysian Today; a full page photo of Butterfingers in action. I still keep the newspaper cutting of it. From then on, people started to recognize my work and I got my first job doing a band photo shoot with Prana. Soon, I was snapping band photos for Restraint, SevenCollar T-Shirt, One Buck Short, Pure Vibracion, Estrella, Incarnation, Forsaken, Love Me Butch, Sweet As Revenge (Ind), Nidji (Ind) and the list goes on. I also get many invitations from bands to take photos of them at their live shows. I love live shows. I get the opportunity to photograph lots of wonderful bands in Malaysia and also some from overseas. A number of my photos are published in some of the bands’ websites and magazines.
I quit working at the company last year and opened up my own studio in Bukit Antarabangsa.
If you ask me why I take photographs of uprising bands, it’s because I’ve been supporting the local music movement since my childhood days and I just feel that I can give something back to the community through photography. Uprising bands also need good photographs of their live shows. I know the problem these bands have to face, so this is where I guess, I could lend a helping hand in their music career as photography and music are greatly related. Now, it’s good to see bands in Malaysia starting to pay attention to their image and giving attention to detail in their band photos. It’s also good to see more photographers start their interest in music photography.
2. What are your inspirations?
Bands, music and life. I’m also inspired by great works from well known rock music photographers such as Ryan Russell, Cindy Frey, Jeremy Saffer, Adam Elmakias, Craig Nye and many others. Hope to be like them one day and have my work featured in international magazines. Not to forget works from Malaysians such as Shermen Mukhtar, Fid Fathir and many others.
3. What is your favourite subject to shoot? Please explain.
Well as you know it, rock music related and other music subjects. I love live shows and doing modeling shots too.
I love music and you can see me sometimes singing along while photographing the bands on stage. And it is especially awesome when you’re photographing hardcore and metal bands cause there’s lots more energy and full of drama. That’s why you’ll see more of me at these bands’ shows. Most of the bands that I photograph are also my friends. So it’s cool to hang out and enjoy the shows.
4. When a band books you for a photo shoot, how do you normally plan the concept of the shoot?
For photo shoots, it’s normally a win-win situation. Normally both the band and I would come up with an idea. Then we play around with them and see what we can do with the limitations that we have. Most of the time, the best photo will come out spontaneously during the set.
5. What is your best experience so far?
My best experience so far is touring with one of my favourite bands called Incarnation to Indonesia. It is an unforgettable experience. Soon, we’re gonna do that more often. Besides that, I’m really honoured and happy that I’ve managed to take photos of bands that I like and listen to all the time.
6. What is your worst experience so far?
Well, so far not many bad experience in rock music photography except that I always get annoyed with photographers who don’t have ethics when taking pictures of performing bands. They would usually just stand in front of the band for the whole set especially at small gigs, blocking the crowd. The maximum amount of time should be just around 5 seconds or something. People pay to watch the band not your butt.
7. If you were given a chance to do a photo shoot with anyone, who would it be?
Hopefully Rage Against the Machine- they are awesome, Cradle of Filth- the makeup and costumes, Natalie Imbruglia- her eyes are wonderful.
8. Tell us about the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ about being a photographer.
Well, I’ll start with the down side of it first. In Malaysia, it’s quite hard to make a living as a rock music photographer as we lack music magazines and our scene is rather small compared to other countries. The appreciation for band photography from magazines and newspapers in Malaysia is a bit of a turn off because some of the magazines don’t even care to credit the photographer even when his/her photo comes out on their cover!? Payment is another problem where we might not get paid according to what the photo is worth. As for now, the Malaysian music scene is moving forward and hopefully in the next 5 years people will put more attention into rock music photography. I’m also improving my work every day and just working hard to get great photos with whatever tools I have. Music photography is a passion to me; I’ll continue to do it as long as possible. I also do lots of photography works for events, weddings, portraits and profiles to support my business.
The positive side of it – Music photography is a cool thing to do. It’s also another genre like wedding, portraits, sports, food and others. Besides, I’m happy to work with bands and share the passion that they have. I also get the opportunity to know lots of cool and interesting people from all over the world.
9. What are your favourite magazines, books or websites that help you in your work?
My favourite magazines are Revolver, Rolling Stone and other music related magazines. Digital Camera Magazine and Google search help a lot on technical matters. Reader’s Digest has some nice photos too. I also like to check out various band photos on their respective websites and also other photographers’ works around the world for inspiration, sometimes not even music related stuff.
As mentioned in the interview, Cipoi has been actively snapping photos at local gigs and here are some of his works. Judging from the outcome, I’d say they’re a reflection of his personality – fun, free-spirited and spontaneous.
Here are some of his work:
killeur calculateur
gerhana ska cinta
love me butch
nidji
brandon boyd of incubus
incarnation
misery signal
Check out more pictures at www.senselessart.com and www.flickr.com/photos/ahmadsaiful
If you wanna get in touch with Cipoi, add him up by the name of SenselessArt Photography on Facebook and Myspace or email him at saiful@senselessart.com.
