Every issue, GRAZIA Singapore highlights a Game Changer who inspires, educates and celebrates individuality, beauty and style. Meet Qiya Ng, a photographer who turns fleeting, everyday moments into soft, cinematic worlds—where light, emotion and intuition quietly do the talking.
Qiya Ng photographs the way some people listen—attentively, patiently, and with a deep respect for nuance. Drawn to subtle gestures, unguarded interactions and atmospheric light, the Singapore-based photographer has built a visual language that feels intimate yet expansive, personal yet universally resonant. Whether documenting people in their element or crafting contemplative frames from everyday scenes, her images offer a quiet sense of understanding in a world that often moves too fast.
Ahead, we speak to the photographer on finding beauty in the everyday, balancing intuition with intention, and creating images that feel quietly cinematic—even with your phone.
How would you describe your visual style, and what subjects or moments are you naturally drawn to capture?
As a multidisciplinary artist, I do have a deep sensitivity to light, emotions, environments and atmosphere. I would like to think that my photographs transform ordinary moments into soft, contemplative scenes that sometimes favour muted palettes, gentle textures, and spacious compositions. I find myself gravitating towards subtle gestures and understated details, crafting images that feel intimate yet universally resonant.
But of course, starting out as a wedding and street photographer, I definitely love capturing people in their element, capturing stories and capturing interactions. The ability for photographers to be an observer yet a director is something that I’ve always loved—our presence is so unassuming yet our visuals have the ability to shape perspectives and narratives.
What first sparked your interest in photography, and how has your approach evolved over the years?
My parents had a really old film camera which we used frequently for our day-to-day, so photography somehow wasn’t a hobby or something out of the norm for me. It was something that my parents did almost daily, photographing my growth, my achievements and even failures. I love pretty things, and I love how photography gave me the ability to own pretty moments and observations. It sometimes even made the less-than-pleasant things beautiful for me.
With the combination of [my] love for literature, creating visuals felt like second nature—I want to make my everyday life mean something, I want to make my daily routine look pretty, and I want to show people how beautiful this world we live in is, alongside with the words I write. Gradually, photography became my career.
I don’t think my approach has changed much over the years. I still take a lot of inspiration from films I’ve watched and paintings I’ve seen but perhaps my idea of what is “worthy” of being captured expanded? I used to look for interesting things, situations and people to capture. With age and (hopefully) wisdom, I realised that everything and anything can be “worthy”. It’s just a matter of perspective. Over the years, I became more confident and intuitive, knowing that I’ve the ability to elicit interests out of anything, to share stories beyond what’s been told, and to represent intentions with my works. I guess I went from just capturing moments to actually adding layers to my visuals—how can I make this one image hold multiple stories, how can I use a frame to hold a thousand words, how can I make my audience look beyond what this image is showing to the naked eye, how can I create universes within a visual.
How do you balance spontaneity with intention in your work?
Just like surfing, the act of balancing spontaneity with intention is consistently in action. You’ve to be constantly aware of it, putting non-negotiable patterns and habits alongside with the flexibility and openness to change plans or take action when an opportunity presents itself.
To be honest, I find that spontaneity is very intentional. You need to prepare and make space for it, and only with that, spontaneity becomes opportunities for yourself. I think what people don’t realise is that everything that you set time aside for actually can be related to your work; you need to be opportunistic and intentionally spontaneous.
How do you stay creative and inspired?
I stay creative by taking care of both my body and mind. No matter how busy I am, I make time every day to work out and read—these habits keep me grounded and prepared for the physical and mental demands of long shoots. I also set aside one night a week to watch a film; storytelling in cinema is a huge source of inspiration, and I see films as a kind of mental massage that helps my mind relax and stretch.
Unpopular opinion, but I also put time aside for raves and music festivals. While it may seem completely unrelated to my work, being surrounded by people who challenge norms through sound energises me, and the conversations I have there are often quirky, unexpected, and deeply stimulating. It’s a different lens into society that shapes how I think about creating visuals through sound. Beyond that, I do what most photographers do: walk aimlessly, travel, people-watch, and take photos.
Going to museums has been a habit of mine too: painters are the OG photographers. They used to create worlds with their imagination and a paint brush on hand. I’ve always been fascinated by how painters see a city, how they reimagine and represent them. The act of balance is more like an awareness, and I constantly do things to ensure that I’ve that awareness in me; to frame an image almost immediately, to think deeper into a visual when I’m creating it, and to be observant and quick to react with regards to the environment around me. That balance builds a strong mental framework, allowing me to react quickly and confidently to unplanned moments when I’m creating.
Is there a moment in your creative career that you see as a turning point?
I think my career had a few turning points, and hopefully more will come as growth and changes are the only constant. One, for sure, would be when I got flown to Vegas in 2019 to be part of a panel that spoke at the WPPI Conference. I never thought that my works were great, to be honest. A lot of us constantly deal with imposter syndrome and as a creative, that’s even more apparent. So, speaking to such a large group of people—and realising that people are curious enough to ask questions and to pick my brain and that people do resonate with the things I share—that was really powerful. It gave me so much confidence to share more and to create more.
More recently, creating content is also a huge turning point. I sometimes struggle with numbers. What’s new may never be popular but what’s popular will never be new—this is something that I’ve learnt through the years. To be so sure of my craft and to continue doing it took (and still takes) a lot of inner work and energy. But by putting myself out there, seeing more and more people loving (or not loving) my work really helps me to be more sure of myself. I love it when I get positive feedback, but at the same time, I love it when I get negative feedback too. It helps me question myself, my craft, and through the process, sieve out constructive feedback which helps me improve or be more confident of what I’m doing.
I got diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer earlier last year, and that really made me reflect on my life. I want to be able to look at the things I put out proudly, knowing that my works exist not for everyone else, but for everyone that they were tailored for.
What’s the most important lesson photography has taught you about yourself?
I’m going to quote Dua Lipa here—radical optimism. I didn’t realise this but I am really good at making things beautiful or cinematic, as some would say, even in the worst situations. It kind of translates to how resilient and optimistic I am. Photography went from being a habit in my childhood to a tool for escape in my younger years. Life became so rough during my young adulthood that I wanted to at least make it look good. Photography taught me to see the beauty in every situation—there is good even if everything else seems horrible. You just really got to look and sometimes, you got to look at it with a different pair of eyes. In order to tell stories well, you sometimes need to immerse yourself fully in another narrative. The peephole of my camera is sometimes like a portal that transports me from one mindset to another. The increased empathy from photography somehow led me to learn that there is optimism in the bleakest moments, there’s beauty in everything within and around us, and somehow I’m able to practice that daily.
Tell us about shooting with an iPhone—what advantages does it give you creatively or technically?
The iPhone has advanced so much that it’s almost like a digicam, but with the capabilities of an almost full camera, within your phone. It’s almost intuitive to whip out my phone first when I see a photo opportunity. With the current updates on the shortcuts and dedicated camera control button, I get to react a lot faster, which helps me not miss a moment. Even in portrait sessions, people naturally feel more comfortable when it’s a phone pointing at them instead of a huge camera. I love how sometimes I’m able to capture angles on my phone that are difficult for a bulky camera per se. It’s easier to move and manoeuvre around with the phone due to its size and weight.
I also love the colours on the iPhone. I feel like the new iPhone 17 has tweaked its colours to look so much more natural, similar to the iPhone X which was my personal favourite iPhone to shoot with. I’ve tried so many other phones for photography and videography but I find myself always coming back to the iPhone. Colours are so important for me, and so this is a huge advantage—to have true colour raw images to work with.
I love how smooth videos are on the iPhone as well. The stabilisation is insane. With so many benefits packed into a phone, it really helps me in creating on the spot and on the go.
Any go-to tricks for shooting in challenging lighting, like harsh daylight or low-light conditions, on iPhone?
Instead of saving my exposure settings, I like to keep it at neutral or “auto” so that I can adjust my exposure settings as and when I need. I tend to shoot on lower exposure as slightly underexposed photos retain more details than overexposed images. Details and textures are really important to me as a photographer, so I’d rather have my images underexposed so that I can adjust it accordingly when I edit. I guess that’s one thing that most people don’t realise—photographers are sometimes so obsessed with clarity that they forget that textures are a huge part of why a photo looks or feels good. The strands of your hair, the shadows contouring features of the subject. These are things you’d miss if you don’t underexpose your images.
If you’re using night mode on the iPhone, be really mindful of keeping your hands and phone stable too—though to be very honest, I love blurry night photos. There’s just something about blurry photos at night that poetically represent how night time feels—a little unclear, a little quiet, a little tranquil yet a little spooky. I’m always trying to spot where the moon is as well, the faint light from the moon is so gentle yet bright enough to highlight things beneath it.
But, the best tip I can give is to embrace your surroundings and play around with whatever you have. Low light photography may not give you the clearest, sharpest photos sometimes but that’s why it’s so beautiful too. The need for your viewers to use their imagination to make out what’s in a photo helps to form a personal connection with your photo, that also includes their own interpretation of it. The unclear, abstraction aspect of low light photography gives photography so much more room to evolve as it passes through different viewers and perspectives.
What’s one underrated iPhone camera feature more people should take advantage of?
The grid! We don’t talk about this feature enough. I wish more people would switch on their grids when taking photos on their iPhone. Two people can take photos of the same subject but the one with better alignment will always appear as the “better photo”. If you’ve been wondering why two similar photos somehow feel different, or how some images have more “mood” and “vibes” than others, that’s because all these intangible aspects of photography are about creating balance, harmony and framing using alignment. You need to know and see how your subject is placed and the grid helps so much with this.
One more feature that I wish more people will talk about is the live photo function. I use it like it’s my religion, especially with portraits. Personally, I find beauty in the most subtle poses in between actions. Sometimes, your best angle can’t be posed, especially when not all of us are trained models. Live Photo captures that few seconds before and after a photo, which helps in capturing that subtle movement that can sometimes occur milliseconds before a pose. Maybe it’s because I’m a videographer turned photographer, representing movements is so important to me. Live Photos gives you so much space to work with, with just one photo.
What does your editing workflow look like on the iPad? Which apps or tools do you gravitate toward?
I do have an iCloud subscription which is amazing for me to transfer files in between devices. Basically, I can access files on my iMac, on my MacBook, on my iPad and on my iPhone all through one folder, anywhere. It saves me so much trouble especially when I’m working between devices. Though I mainly use the Adobe Suite on my devices, I love how lightweight the iPad is, yet the display is so true to colour, so realistic and of high quality. I used to have to lug my MacBook around during travels as I work on the go, but having the iPad made it much more convenient.
The best enhancement though has been the Apple Pencil Pro—so much precision and intuitiveness in creating masks in my photos and footages. Colouring my photos and footage on iPad actually feels easier and more fun than my iMac and Macbook; though of course, the iPad cannot be a direct replacement. I recently also started exploring Final Cut Pro. Using the Apple Pencil Pro and jog wheel concurrently, it’s easier to find timestamps in footages. Being able to hand write on my images and footages is also a game changer. I feel like I can add a personal touch to the visuals I’m creating.
How does editing on the iPad influence or enhance your creative expression?
Firstly I love how intuitive everything on the iPad is. From admin work, to creating mood boards, to being able to use the Apple Pencil Pro to edit, I feel like I’m working with my notepad or easel even though I’m creating digital art form.
I think the precision that comes with the use of the Apple Pencil Pro, which allows me to tweak colours and to find milliseconds in footages, really helps with editing. As silly as it might sound, having more precision and having more access to details means that there’s more flexibility and fluidity in the things that I can do. These are things that you can’t really achieve with a mouse.
Now, I’m currently exploring more hand drawn and hand written mediums which definitely helps me in seeing digital media (photography and videography) differently.
How do you hope people feel when they encounter your work?
Understood. I think as an artist, the best compliment you can get is when someone tells you that they feel understood through the visuals you created. As humans, we’re such complex creatures; and that’s why art like photography, videography and paintings exists. We seek to be understood, we seek to belong and we seek to be loved. Everything and every act that comes out of us, they all come from a place of love. So I hope that my works are not just visuals, but a portal into new ways of thinking, of feeling, of conversations and of perspectives. That they showcase possibilities and beginnings, and to be visual hugs in any way that anyone may need at that point of time. A little ambitious, but that’s why I create and I still create.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
PHOTOGRAPHY QIYA NG
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