Dr Samuel Wong
Musician
I first photographed Samuel Wong for The Arts Magazine for a concert called The Music Box (2000). I was still working at the Esplanade, and two decades on, we meet again in my studio. When Samuel starts playing the pipa it is just intense. From simple melodies to songs of battle, Samuel and his pipa are an engaging whole. The co-founder and creative director of The TENG Company, he says he feels naked without his instrument. Selecting one image was just so difficult. Thank you, Samuel, for expressing yourself so eloquently; there are no words to describe it.
Ngiap Heng first took my picture with the pipa over 20 years ago when I was a young musician, even before the Esplanade was built!
Glad to see him after all these years . . . when Ngiap Heng asked me to model, I happily agreed. I’ve always been told that I have a fiery intensity when I play, and I think it’s captured most intensely in my eyes.