The Small Things That Make the Big Picture

[This profile was first published in the December 2012 issue of CUBES.]

Architecture photographer Albert Lim says he shoots more than just buildings.

By Justin Zhuang

Albert Lim is almost twice my age, but when the 61-year-old shows me his photographs on the iPad, I am the one squinting to see them.

In a shot of the Beijing National Stadium in construction are tiny figures at work, dwarfed by its massive steel roof beams. His picture of a half-completed Marina Bay Sands is lined at the bottom with cranes saluting in one direction.

As Albert points out, “I shoot small things. In the big picture, I look out for small things, everything possible to find my picture.”

The focus on the small and seemingly insignificant in his images is a surprising revelation from this renowned photographer who has documented the birth of skyscrapers and other larger-than-life architecture forms in the cities of Singapore and Southeast Asia over the last two decades. But Albert has never seen himself as just shooting architecture; instead, it was his love for image-making that led him into it.

Even though he was studying science in secondary school, Albert was always interested in the arts, often sitting in for art classes to learn more. On his own, he also experimented with photography, but it was only after completing National Service in the early 1970s that Albert took his hobby seriously, enrolling in courses organised by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and SAFRA Photography Club.

At the same time, he started work as a draftsman for a structural engineering company, while studying part-time to be an engineer. Although Albert never completed his studies, saying he was too busy at work, he continued pursuing photography. Besides reading books to learn technical skills, spending weekends freelancing for event and wedding shoots, Albert also participated regularly in photography competitions and started winning. The prize money helped fund an expensive hobby in the days of film photography, and his successes eventually convinced Albert to become a full-time photographer.

In 1985, he won the opportunity to represent Singapore in a photography championship held in Hong Kong for the city’s 10th International Dragon Boat Races Festival. Competing against photographers from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia to depict modern Hong Kong, its lifestyle and the dragon boat races, Albert emerged overall winner — an accolade that capped the encouragement and assignments his friends were offering him to turn professional.

Even with the economic recession hanging over Singapore that year, Albert resigned as chief draftsman and went solo. “My job was secure, but I told myself if I wanted to go, it’s the best time. People in the advertising agencies gave me a lot of confidence because they wanted to use me. The day rate was also very good, and I was earning even more than as a draftsman,” he says.

It took another four years before Albert began to be known for photographing architecture, after architect and then Select Books publisher William Lim asked him out of the blue to shoot for the 1989 publication Innovative Architecture of Singapore. This led to more work from architecture firms. It also marked the start of his working relationship with author Robert Powell, which, since then, led to the publication of a variety of books about architecture in the region. Even though Albert never stopped shooting commercial work for clients such as Singapore Airlines and Theatreworks, he became known for his architecture photography, building a portfolio of commissions from local firms Kerry Hill Architects and SCDA Architects, as well as international players Richard Meier and Kenzo Tange.

Seeing his photos through the eyes of these architects taught him that he was producing more than just building shots. “Architecture photography is not just shooting buildings because I shoot more than the buildings,” he says. “You can do a lot more things when you shoot: open a window, light the inside, try a different time of the day… you have to use your eyes to judge.”

It is this never-ending quest to spot a detail or a moment, to capture an image no one else has, which kept Albert in photography all these years. “Noticing what others don’t, that is what photography is to me,” he says. “I really enjoy taking pictures that no other person can get. Without that, I won’t enjoy photography.”