For the 27th installment of Spotlight Seven, we feature Vignes Balasingam, known on Flickr as devilmangod. This week's interview, artist selection and photo selection was made by week 2 artist 'stpiduko'.
Vignes was born in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, moved to the country as a child where he enjoyed the adventure of the forest and never paid much heed to warnings of tigers in the area, and now has come full circle and lives in heart of Kuala Lampur. Vignes has been fascinated by photography since he was a child, wanting to move past snapshots at the wise age of four. Here's a brief excerpt from his interview.
1: Location is everything, so interested to know where you were born, spent your childhood and where you live now?
I was born in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia; the house my grandparents raised their thirteen children and eight nephews and nieces. It was the house my father would woo the woman that would become his wife and my mother. When I was eight, we moved far out of the city to a new housing estate. It was located between a rubber plantation and a primary rainforest. I remember wild boars would roam the streets at night rummaging through the dustbins for food. We didnt have water supply then, so we walked about 2 kms for fresh water from the river. My brother and I spent most of our time in the river and forest to my mother's grief. Some evenings, the jungle police would drive slowly speaking over their PA system warning residents that a tigers had been spotted. That never really meant anything to me and my brother. The sense of adventure was too strong to resist. Now I live in an apartment on the 6th floor in the heart of the city of Kuala Lumpur. Its not as exciting as the dwelling of my youth but it does make moving around easy.
Be sure to check out the whole interview and all 10 portraits, or feel free to view more of his photos in his photostream or at his personal website.
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