The Art of Light

This post is also available in: Malay

K.K. Low, second-generation owner (though owner was not his father)

Pak Tai Photo Studio, Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur

Pak Tai Photo Studio has been a fixture in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown since the 1940s. Mr Low took over from the original owner in 1968 and he has been there ever since.

Today, Mr Low runs the studio by himself but he remembers the time when he employed six assistants who were kept busy photographing customers, then processing the film and making prints in the dark room. Those were the days when taking a photograph was an event.

Even though he has embraced change – he now produces passport and other identification photos using Photoshop and an ink-jet printer – Mr Low has the traditional skills and knowledge acquired first as an apprentice photographer in Lenggong, Perak, and then finely honed through decades of experience.

I had the privilege of having my passport photo taken by Mr Low, and was very impressed by his instinctive understanding of lighting which is rare in the industry today – and certainly surpassed mine!