Introducing the ADVENSHARE series. Intimate dialogue sessions to cultivate a culture of creative conversations. Discussions revolve around topics of design, travel, photography and youth activism. Initiated as part of the Canon EOS Youth Ambassador Programme with support from Perbadanan Perpustakaan Awam Selangor.
ADVENSHARE SESSION 07
TKDNXV / ABEDEN
Photographer, Mobilegraphy_xv
TKDNXV left his life in engineering to pursue his passion for photography. A firm believer of networking and the power of social media and creative exchange, he currently does photography full time and conducts courses for mobilegraphy.
The video of this advenshare session is available here and is embedded at the end of this post
I've known you for quite some time. But one day while I was scrolling instagram I was like, 'eh I know this person! And wah, he's so famous! But why TKDNXV?'
TKDNXV is actually a short form of my real name, Tengku Hishamuddin, which became TKDN; XV is my favourite number 15. I started the TKDNXV instagram in 2013, but that was before I got into photography.
What were you doing before photography?
I was a civil construction engineer. I took it as my course for diploma and degree in UiTM. I worked as an engineer for four years before I quit. It was during this time when I was struggling between my passion and my job. You know when they say - it's not a job if you enjoy the job? During this time, I realised that sure, I can do this job, but it wasn't my true passion. But there were concerns la - it's photography, how far can you really go? So I really took my time to build myself for four years.
So while you were doing engineering, you were doing photography on the side?
Cerita dia sebenarnya interesting. In engineering, there's weekly and monthly, reports. So at the appendix section, you need to put site photos. The company gave me a camera to do this, but then I started taking other photos instead, sebab saja je.
And during this was when you started your photography series of the construction worker portraits?
Yes. Besides the company camera, I also bawak phone. With the camera I took work photos. But with my phone, I started to look for the creative angle. From there, it sparked something inside me. I realised that I like to take photos of people. All around my site, I saw rare faces of the workers - Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesian. I was attracted to the expression, the details, the clothes, the eyes. Where else can you get photos like that? Definitely not in the city, not in front of pavilion. I realised that in order to take unique portraits, you don't have to go travel outside the country.
That's so amazing amazing because for you it was natural, since it was your working environment, you were surrounded by them, it wasn't like you went out actively on these photowalks. Plus they turned out to be such beautiful photographs! So you started posting on instagram and gained a lot of followers. How and why do you think that happened?
I think back then, during 2012-2014 period, these kind of shots were quite rare. The faces of the portraits were various too - tua, muda, handsome, yang muka macam penjenayah pun ada. And when it's rare, people find it interesting and will follow you, and try to do their own take on it as well.
It's nice that you encourage your followers, instead of brushing them off and asking them to cari idea sendiri.
The idea of encouraging my audience to do the same thing was to be approachable. Orang tak terfikir, you can turn something ordinary into a photo with a story. These portraits are easy, anyone can do it. And because it's doable, it became a trend.
It's unique as well because you really have natural talent to take photos, even though you didn't study it..
I never learned how to do photography technically. I believe in, orang kata, the art of seeing. So I try to apply that in my daily life, where I take photos of my hands, my cats, botol mineral..
Were there any references, or people that you looked up to when you started?
That's the thing. In Malaysia, there is a scene for photographers, especially when instagram started growing, around 2013. Everyone around me was my inspiration masa tu. I follow people whose photos I found incredible, and I wanted to do the same. Masa tu dia bergilir. You inspired me, I inspired you. No competition. It was sharing, learning together and expanding the industry as well. Dulu it was very meriah because sekejap ada idea baru, kejap lagi ada idea baru. Now, I feel like we are actually stagnant. For me, I feel like my photography is not relevant dah. I want to be inspired too.
And because of that, to exchange inspirations, to create collaborations with the community, you started mobilegraphy_xv and mobilegraphy classes..
The movement, mobilegraphy_xv started around July last year. The term mobilegraphy is actually mobile photograaphy. XV is my brand - my kind of editing, angle, shots. I did it because throughout the years of my posting on instagram, ramai tanya how to do this, what apps did I use. So I thought, why not? And why mobile - it's an easy approach. Also, to kembangkan industri fotografi, it starts with youngsters. Not all youngsters mampu beli camera, but everyone has phones. Whoever was interested in photography, they can start with their phones. The fundamentals of photography are still the same. I also started selendang_beden series, which is a fabrics layover that you can impose on your photos. It makes a regular photo more artsy, abstract and conceptual. It gained about 3000 hashtag contributions in a month.
I guess selendang_beden was an outlet for them to exercise their own creativity. Everyone had different intepretations of it, but it was part of one big community. Now that you have quite a following, it's inevitable that not all of our interactions are great. Some of us receive negative comments, how do you deal with that?
Well, we always hear people say 'don't listen to them'. But at the end of the day, you're still human. From my experience, most of this is just kids who are looking for a reaction. Sometimes, I reply back and ask them what is their problem exactly. But at the end of the day, I just ignore it. But I think if you hate someone, keep it to yourself. Don't spread it.
Yes.. honestly, at the end of the day, everybody in this world has flaws and weaknesses. Even your public idols. So after all this, throughout the ups and downs of being the public eye, what's one lesson that you've taken?
I think so far up to this age I've learned that life could bring you anywhere, just prepared. It's like, did you realise back then, when you were studying, you would be here now? I would never have realised that you know, I went from an engineer with thousands in salary, to jobless and cashless, to owing people.
So you really risked everything when you left engineering? How did you find the strength to that, to leave the security, the salary?
First you need to have courage for that. For the first few months after quitting, I was struggling. I would never really recommend it to my followers. But luckily I had instagram back then, with quite a following at the time. So I buat engagement dalam tu. The interactions also supported and motivated me. So from there, I got clients, jobs, and exposure. Nowadays if anyone were to ask me how to quit their day job to pursue, say photography, I always ask - what is your base strength? What outlet or platform do you have? That's the second thing. You need to have a direction and a platform. A plan.
That's true. People normally romanticize quitting and risking everything. But the successful people who have quit actually had a plan to push them forward. Thank you so much Abeden. Any last words?
Keep pushing forward. Don't stop. It's perfectly normal to feel demotivated or stagnant, don't worry too much or be sad about it. Everyone feels like that at one point. Just ask yourself why you started, and keep going.
You can keep in touch with Abeden here:
Instagram: TKDNXV
Twitter: TKDNXV
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