This was a significant composition to me because it had charged the path for me to enter the world of surrealistic and conceptual photography.

How I did this:

1 – The fluid. I have tried numerous kinds of liquid, including honey, oil, milk and even cough syrup, but it was extremely challenging to shoot all the above liquid. After numerous experiments, I finally settled on corn syrup. The sticky nature of the syrup was perfect for this assignment.

2 – The trials. To obtain the satisfactory thickness, this was the key element for the setup. I have to keep trying the mixture, Too thin, you need superb reflexes to capture the flowing liquid; too thick it would drive you nuts trying to pour it out. I also find that the trials were best carried out in the kitchen. Imagine having this sticky stuff spilling all over the place! My preparation started as early as 3am in the morning. A family member woke up and asked what the hell was I cooking. I replied “Naaah just preparing for the set”. He sighed and went back to sleep.

3 – The setup. After about 1Kg of corn flour was wasted, I finally got the right mixture. I rubbed the surface of a stool with wax and then used tissue to polish the surface gently. The idea was to create a water-resistant surface so that I could maintain the shape while the syrup was falling. A few droplets were used to complement the puddle.

4 – Lighting. The reason I woke up 3.Am in the morning was that I wanted to prepare early, so that I could catch the morning ray. There is a window in my house where the Sun would shine nicely on a white wall. The bounced light was soft and diffused. However, what I got was a cloudy day. That spoiled my plan. I have to shoot it in my room instead. I used a 500W sport light and bounced the light off the wall.

5 – Getting the shot. I learned that I couldn’t just pour the liquid out. It was the result of my failure in the previous attempts. I positioned the cup on top of the other and used a pencil to guide the ‘tail’. Thanks to the right mixture, it is interesting to see a ‘long tail’ being dragged out from the syrup.

After 3 days of tireless sessions and 3×36 rolls of film later, I finally got this shot.