The Journey of Self Discovery 
Through the Visual Language of Photography

ALTHOUGH I LOVE doing translation and interpreting (otherwise I would not have done it since 1973 and 1989 respectively), these two occupations do not necessarily allow me to "let off steam" easily. While clients appreciate my linguistic resourcefulness, they don't necessarily count on my creative impulses.

Translation and language interpreting are all about fidelity and coloring inside the lines. Words are basically given meanings in a culture, while language is an arbitrary, conventional and traditional verbal communication system. 

That said, don't we all need a balanced life to recharge the body, mind, and soul? Isn't there a need to counter-balance a career with an unrelated hobby? A life that does not only utilize the left-brain hemisphere (in charge of analytic thoughts and verbal communication), but also the right-brain one (in charge of creativity and visual communication)?

Life isn't just a matter of coloring inside the lines, but also of thinking outside the box. Hence my other passion: the journey of self discovery through the visual language of photography.
"Life isn't just a matter of coloring inside the lines, but also of thinking outside the box." 
Self-taught, I started fooling around with a Canonet 1.9 (bought at a garage sale) in the mid 1970s, then with a Canon F-1 (N) and Kodachrome 64 in the late 1980s. Due to multiple relocations as well as translation deadlines and interpreting work demands, there were periods when I did not touch a camera at all for several years.

That has changed however. Life is about harmony and quality, not intensity and quantity. "Happiness," Thomas Merton (1915-1968) once said, "is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony."
 
There had been an internal debate whether or not to include a Photography page in my website. In a typical argument between the compliant methodical left brain and the defiant devil-may-care right brain --
Left Brain:      "Why the heck does a translator's website contain a photography page? It's not event relevant."
Right Brain:    "Why not! While translation deals with verbal communication, photography deals with visual communication."
 
That settles the debate. Enjoy the images!
-Johannes Tan