Sean Lim, 26 - Singapore
I am a Sports photographer that has been shooting for about 1.5 years
@kingguroofilms on Instagram
Ok so it has to be said the whole idea for this Visual Interview series came from spitballing with my friend Sean, being able to showcase other artists work has been a long time goal of mine and he really helped me hash out the idea. So thank you.
David - Lets ease you in, what came first the sport or the photography? How did you marry the two?
Sean - I’m actually not too sure myself. When I was as young as 5-6, my brothers and I would stay up late at night just to catch World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and we’d try those moves on each other. While I was always very keen on combat sports, I would never have money to get myself classes apart from enrichment ones in school up till I was about 16-17. The camera was always in front of me, and I’ve always carried a camera with me everywhere I go, filming everything and anything I see. If we were to be politically correct, the sport (combat sport) came first.
As life progressed, I would often whip out the camera to capture moments of my friends competing Muay Thai. I’d paint a picture of the story I’d like to tell, put those clips together and that was that. Then the transition to photography wasn’t as difficult. Especially in this day and age where the things you’d show on social media were all moments, keeping to that rule was all I had to do. You would have a lot more leeway shooting video but photography’s not the same.
Though as a young boy I’ve always favoured being in front of the camera, the introvert in me grew and I found myself being the creator for the most part. I realised I wanted to capture emotions and moments that encapsulate the atmosphere and raw emotions at that very moment.
David - You have recently switched your equipment (by my recommendation) and most interestingly you took my advice to go from shooting 16mm to 50mm, how has that change in focal range worked for you?
Sean - David, the 50mm’s great. In fact, some of my favourites that were shot on Sony were from the 50mm. It’s great! I’m close enough, but not that close that I don’t get the big picture. It’s not often shot on by many yet it's so versatile!
David - If you could have freedom to pick any spot to cover a fight where would you choose and why?
Sean - Back in the day, where they would refer to it as the “PRIDE era”, referees would have to wear a camera on their heads, much like mounting a GoPro in today’s terms. I’m pretty sure some organisations still use it and that’s such an underrated spot.
Allow me some flexibility here David - having the POV of the cutman is also dang awesome. You’d get to see the emotions of cornermen and the fighter, sweat and blood dripping down viciously cut foreheads. It’s in those moments where we see real and true emotion - in-between rounds.
David - I have noticed that wether it is from the athlete or the crowd you seem to capture emotional expression over a dramatic or dynamic action shot. It’s what I like most about your work. Could you expand on this and let us know your thinking?
Sean - I’ve not thought about this till you mentioned it. As I’m writing these answers (thanks to you) I started to realise that myself. I’m so new to this world but I often let my imagination run wild when shooting these pictures. When we know what a sport is like, we’d know what to look out for to capture these images. I always like to tell a story when a picture is chosen. That’s really all I think about if I’m honest. Then I let my mind decide on its composition and let my pictures do the talking.
Sure, action shots of people getting punched is all nice and cool but what does that do? Does that make me feel a certain way? Does it tell a story? If it does… great!
David - I think this question (or variants thereof) is going to be a staple in these interviews. As the creator, how would you describe your relationship with the viewer, what part do you both play?
Sean - That’s a solid one. As a creator it’s often important that I speak to my audience. I want my pictures to allow them to feel a certain way whatever it is. That’s the beauty of photography right? It’s up to the viewer to decide how they want to interpret the picture.
David - I leave the last question to satisfy my own curiosity but this time I won’t. I know we talk in depth about this often but for the readers; Apart from coming to Thailand to shoot some Muay Thai with me, what are your next plans?
Sean - I am definitely thinking of getting to Thailand in the near future, I appreciate you for having me on your platform. I’m currently working on my brand and looking to work with promoters and gyms to have me as their photographer. But I know my pictures and techniques are a fair bit different than the traditional combat photographer. So if you like my work and wanna chat, hit me up on @kingguroofilms on Instagram! Thanks David.
Again thank you Sean, I think it is safe to say we can expect a lot more from you on the website in the future.