Last year sometime when I was in Japan, I visited an exhibition of the World Press Photo in Tokyo. It was an incredible experience – walking past dozens of bus stop sized photos of scenes that for many different reasons, would quite literally take your breath away. I can clearly recall those pictures now… an African man standing in the street alongside his chained and muzzled hyena, a polar bear perched on a lone slab of ice in an environment rapidly giving way to global warming, incredible pictures of ballet students dancing, or an art "factory" in china… Some scenes were inspiring, many were harrowing, but each was so unique that I never felt desensitised – each image gave way to new feelings.

Now aside from the technical brilliance that shone through the vast majority of images, the thing that stuck me was just how important it was to be "in the right place at the right time". The best camera equipment (or even the best photographic skill) was actually secondary in importance to the fact that the photographer had been in a position to take a photo in the first place. This realisation was perhaps the first time that the importance of "investing in subjects" really hit home for me. You see, we’re all interested in improving our skills and nuturing our talents, but these can’t happen in a vacuum. Give the most talented photographer in the world a boring subject and there’s only so much he / she is going to be able to do with it. What I was realising as I walked through the exhibition was that while it was great to see hidden beauty in the everyday world that surrounded me, there was perhaps even an a greater adventure in trying to open closed doors and seeing what was inside.

So, given that I was not about to go jump on a plane to a war torn state in Africa, when I got home I sought out subjects that were more accessible and more within reach. Some required travel, some required research, some required developing contacts and some required a bit of blind luck. All required opening my mind to new opportunities I had previously not seen. And so shortly after, I began a series of photographic projects that I feel so privileged to have been able to participate in.

Although I was not a fan of ballet growing up, it’s something I’ve learned to appreciated in the past couple of years. Two of those projects were in this subject. Getting a chance to shoot at a training session of the Ballet Philippines was fantastic – in the end it took little more than some initiative, some courtesy and a favour I’ve yet to fully repay. Likewise, getting backstage access to a local Singaporean ballet school was a wonderful experience and something I hope to do more of in the future.

In Singapore, I also got a chance to hook up with my good friend Manny Librodo and shoot the behind the scenes images for one of his SIngapore workshops. That project coincided with a much more serious move into portraits for me which remains a strong interest for me today. A couple of months later, I found myself on a 300,000 tonne supertanker – a location usually completely off limits to the general public. And finally, after a great recommendation from a fellow photographer here, I managed to find a dream location for my abandoned / storytelling series "Fragments", a project that has become so important to my development as a photographer.

Now, putting some perspective on this, obviously none of these images are going to change the world or raise public awareness of social / climate / economic issues. But as a photographer whose primary aim is to improve his breadth and skill, that was never the aim. The goal was quite simply to expose myself to scenarios and surroundings that I wouldn’t normally face in everday life, and draw inspiration from those scenes to create images I wouldn’t have imagined taking 12 months ago. And fortunately that’s exactly what happened.

And so this is one of my favourite pieces of advice for someone who’s reaching that first level of photography – the phase when you feel as if you’ve understood the basics of composition, exposure and technique, and are starting to get a little jaded or tired with creating the same images. If that’s you then invest in finding more interesting subjects.

You might have to develop some new relationships / contacts, jump in a car and drive somewhere. You might even take a plane to another country. Or if you’re already familiar with traveling, it might require dragging yourself well off your normal schedule or agenda and arranging something unique in advance… It won’t necessarily be easy, nor something you can do every day but by occasionally investing more in subjects, you’ll have the chance to see a slice of life you’ve not experienced before. And that fresh look you get may even return home with you, providing a new perspective on your existing surroundings too.

Either way, you’ll end up with great images.