By day, this 24-year-old is a professional makeup artist. Off duty, she is one of this little red dot’s most underrated budding fashion lensmen, whose eye for unconventional beauty and left-of-field images, gives her pictures an underground veneer in a London-fashion-scene-sorta-way (which explains fashion students love to seek her out to photograph their graduation collections).
Just imagine interestingly weird angles, distorted poses and a candid and raw composition in her work. For this, you’d need to see this self-thought photographer in action. We witnessed that first-hand during Tan’s fashion editorial for Female‘s June issue where she was tasked to interpret the colour red (FYI: Her take on red here revolves around the idea of pain and pleasure – portrayed through the model’s strong yet seductive stance).
Tan is limber and hyperactive on set, crouching, leaning and holding what looks like a really uncomfortable stance — all in the name of getting a perfect shot. And those interesting colourways and treatments you usually get in her photos? Without revealing too much of her trade secret, she admits that at times, they are a result of shooting through objects as random as a glass bottle.
I choose photography as my medium of expression because… I think it’s a form of communication that doesn’t require you to utter a single word.
Good photography is… the continuation of experimentation. Don’t do what’s already been done, you want people to look at your work and question what they’re used to seeing.
Three words I would use to describe my images are… experimental, raw and eclectic (maybe?). God, these are the hardest to answer.
My style of photography is… constantly evolving. I know a lot of photographers have a “signature-style”, I just think mine is ever-changing because I get bored easily.
The subjects I always photograph.. are people, beautifully strange people. I love unconventional beauty.
The cameras I use are… Canon 5D Mk III and Nikon FM2.
My photography hero is… Jeurgen Teller — no questions asked.
One person I would love to photograph… is no one.
I’m currently working on anything and everything. My mantra is: Don’t stop creating.
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