Over George Town and Swettenham Pier at dusk, Penang
Renowned photojournalist, internationally published award-winning author, and aerial landscape artist – David ST Loh, who was once recognized as the editor of the prominent news agency, Reuters, shared his success over the past few years. In 2017, he and his wife returned to Penang after many years in Singapore to establish Elaton Asia Services and then Elaton Publishing a year later. They decided to do so as they noticed that no one else was doing anything in this niche sector. Together, they travel around Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and even Myanmar and Western Australia to document aerial shots of scenery, buildings, and people.
At this stage of his career, David utilized his experience and knowledge in photography which he gathered in the industry since his university days to showcase Malaysia and all its beauty through images, exhibitions, and books. Whether underwater, ground, or aerial shots, David has a gallery of spectacular images featuring all the wonderful festivals, colors, history, traditions, artisans, and food found in Malaysia. When asked about the popularity of his aerial shots, David mentioned that it is widely promoted as it is unique and not easy to come by often
David ST Loh (right) with his wife, Rebecca Lee
“Many people, unfortunately, do not realize how beautiful their own village or town looks from the sky. I felt like it is our duty to show these images to all Malaysians so that they can appreciate how attractive their country really is,” said David. During the lockdown, many people were engrossed with our nature shots including trees, waterfalls, and islands in Sabah and Sarawak with the best sunsets as they provided people with sceneries that they could not access while they were stuck at home.
David’s photographs were featured in a one-month exhibition at E&O Hotel, Penang in conjunction with the launch of his first book ‘Over Penang’ in 2019. The book captured various festivals celebrated by people from various backgrounds in Penang such as Chinese New Year, Thaipusam, St. Anne’s Feast, and many others. David is proud that he managed to capture images from those festivals that not many can replicate due to the pandemic. The book took over a year to complete as he made sure to include as many festivals as he could. Later, the exhibition was held again at the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore where he impressed many Singaporeans with the beauty of Malaysia captured by the lens of his drone. Many of them left with books or artworks from David.
David ST Loh Images, in George Town, Penang, Malaysia
‘Over Penang’ was a huge hit as it was awarded the Malaysia National Library Award 2020 under the English category. After his success with ‘Over Penang’, David was commissioned to make ‘Over Sarawak’ which took over 17 days to make. His second book, Simply Penang which was made during the pandemic featured a QR code that readers could scan to listen to a narration of the images by Patrick Teoh, a Malaysian actor and radio personality. The book did well too – 4,000 books in total, a quarter of which were pre-bought before production began.
David returned in 2022 with a new exhibition ‘Over Malaysia’ which featured landscapes, cityscapes, and people around Malaysia. The exhibition took place at SPICE Convention Centre Penang on 26 March 2022 and a second exhibition will be held during the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2022 on 29 June 2022.
Over Malaysia by David ST Loh
He mentioned that the reason people buy his artwork is mainly because of the quality of paper, ink, and printing. David’s images are limited which is why they sell for thousands of ringgit. He strongly believes that he managed to find his market as he is able to provide the best for them.
