Our chief photographer Susan Ng was recently interviewed by WL Media.
Susan was incredibly honored to be chosen as one of the HK Women Entrepreneurs and shared her advice for women-lead businesses in this HK roundup article.
Article by Winnie Tsoi and Minuca Elena | Hong Kong, Women entrepreneurship
There’s always been a bit of an unbalance in terms of gender within the photography industry. When I first started in the industry, there were only a few women; especially those who were wedding photographers. It was hard to find recognizable female wedding photographers who are good at their craft as well as able to take on the physical labors of being a wedding photographer.
Perhaps because I studied art at college and perhaps because I look at artistry in a different way to most people, gender wasn’t a really big deal to me and I certainly didn’t think it should affect the way I did my work. Therefore, I forged my way within the wedding photography industry with as much courage as I could possibly find.
I still remember my very first wedding job – probably over a decade back now; it was an unforgettable experience, both in terms of being my first paid job but also the schedule of the day and I admit that I found it very exhausting. I had never shot a wedding for a full day before and looking back on it now, at the time, it was probably the most exhausted I had ever been in my life. I have kept the photographs from that wedding – I still have an album for my own archives. Each time I look back on the photographs, I remember exactly what happened when I took the shot. I am very grateful that I was given the opportunity to step out on this new career path of mine – as before I became a wedding photographer, I was working as a music lecturer at a university. It may still be part of the arts curriculum, but learning how to become a professional photographer was quite a big step for me – more so when I decided to concentrate on being one for the rest of my life.
For those who want to start and lead a profitable business in Hong Kong, I would probably advise them to be courageous.
It takes a lot of determination and hard work to become successful, this is in business as well as life.
When you decide to start on that journey, there will be a lot of setbacks, a lot of hardships – and definitely a lot of unknowns – but self-belief and determination go a long way into helping you along that road. I can’t really say that I’m that successful for the moment, but I have been lucky enough to be a professional wedding photographer in this very competitive industry for over a decade now, with over two thousand weddings under my belt. Each wedding is memorable in its own right and I am always learning. My biggest motivation is that my clients will look at the photographs I give them and remember the moments that occurred with great fondness.
My hope is that with each photograph I take, I get to change the world’s perspective a little bit. I absolutely love my job – and I hope that I’ll be taking photographs until I can’t anymore.
Susan Ng
Principal photographer, Johnny Productions
