When I finished school and started working at 18, after a few years of saving I bought a very basic camera as at that time I gave most of my income to my mother as my father passed away when I was 17 years old. Also due to his Parkinson’s disease, he had not been working for years, so I needed to contribute towards the running of the household. I love clicking the camera and try to capture images which appeal to me. Over the years I have had various small Canon, Sony and Nikon cameras and video cameras. In 1997 I travelled to Xinjiang and I borrowed a Canon single standard lens camera from my husband, I was fascinated by the different races and physical appearance of the population, the colours of the local markets, the closeness of the animals to their human owners or minders which inspired me to paint a body of work which was developed into my first solo Exhibition “The Sik Road” in November 2001.
Over the next few years I have travelled to Burma, Bhutan, Southern China, India, Japan, Shanghai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia from my home in Hong Kong, before I moved to live in Singapore in 2007. Being Chinese and having lived in Asia all my life I feel close and empathise with the Asian People. My kaleidoscopic journeys have provided me with endless sources of inspiration, I have wanted to reflect the scenes, culture and people I have been privileged to witness and hope to capture them in my paintings and photos.
In 2010 when the new Canon D60 came onto the market I bought it with an EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens to go to Tibet. I took thousands of photos and I really enjoyed using it. I have never attended any photography courses and similar to my paintings I am just self taught and take photos by instinct. I also use an Iphone to take photos from time to time when I see interesting subjects arising everyday in the street or countryside.
At the end of March 2018 I got a virus infection during the end of my trip to NY which deteoriated to pneumonia. The doctor’s advice is it would take at least 6 weeks to clear the lung and I need a lot of rest. Whilst resting I have joined a photography class which really opens my eyes and expands my horizon as I have since taken many photos and decided to include this subject into my portfolio.
The City
Linda Ting Wareham 