Interview/Tutorial by Editor Michel Romaggi in collaboration with the author Hengki Lee.
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 7th of March 2022

Hengki's artworks always show silhouettes and project us into a mysterious world whose secrets I was triggered to discover. Hengki kindly accepted to lift the veil on these so particular atmospheres.

There are silhouettes in each of your photos. Can you explain this choice?

Choosing silhouettes and unfocused photography allows me to create kind of an undefined story since the details in the frame are unclear except for the subject's gesture and composition. It's a symbolic way to tell a story, just like poetry. This type of photography lets the audience's mind guess what the story is behind my work or the image allows them to create their own story.

'Wreckage'

Can you precisely tell us how you technically realized this picture? Circumstances, gear, settings …

I shot this scene at night time at an abandoned building, so the circumstance was completely dark.For lighting, I used one continuous light (Red Hat) which was placed approximately 5 meters behind the subject, and to make the scene more dramatic I used an artificial fog machine which made the room filled with haze. Then I managed my subject to make a simple standing gesture and let him be framed by the room entrance and the messy things around him. For the Camera, I used Sony A7R 2 and for the lens, I use the LENSBABY Composer Pro II with Sweet 50 optic and managed the aperture at f/2.5, Speed at 1/100, ISO at 2000.I Used Adobe Photoshop software for basic editing and Alien Skin Exposure X4 for finishing this work with texture and other creative effects.

What does the title 'wreckage' convey in this photo?

I just want to make visual poetry about loneliness and the feel of being abandoned which is symbolized by this hazy and blurry silhouette appearance.
But I also let the audience interpret this image by their own imagination and personal feelings or subconscious mind when seeing this work.

'When the morning wakes'

'Season's Greetings'

This one titled 'Awake' is – for instance - one of my LENSBABY signature fine artworks, which is quite different from my other “Ordinary” silhouette shots. As you can see the visual impact of this work was built by the unique blur and hazy visualization which gave dreamy and poetic impressions.

'Awake'

Finally, can you tell us about yourself and the place that photography occupies in your life?

I am a self-taught visual artist and semi-professional photographer from Jakarta, Indonesia. I also love to read and write poetry and try to express that kind of passion in the work I create with my camera. In the journey of my Photography career, I have won some awards and medals (FIAP Gold medals, FIAP Blue Badges, PSA Gold Medals, RPS Gold Medal, GPU Gold Medals, IAAP Gold Medals, and many more) from some International Photography Competitions around the globe.

I am currently a LENSBABY Brand Ambassador and conduct workshops in my country.   I will conduct them abroad in the future when the pandemic ends. I am selling my fine art prints for local and international customers as well.

Visit my profile here in 1x.com to see more of my works and my social media to see my daily uploads:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hengkilee

Instagram: https://instagram.com/hengki_lee