The Photographer’s Life | My Life

© 2009 Wazari Wazir | My Wife and My Son | Kuala Lumpur City Centre

There is a reason why I don’t do part time photography like some others working photographers do. Photography is my career, I’m a full time working photographer for the Government of Malaysia. Most of my assignment involved official government functions and sometimes it happens during weekends like New Year or even during Eid ul-Fitr where most people celebrate the big days with their family. Unlike other government servant, as a photographer we don’t work only during normal office hour, sometimes we work until midnight like my latest assignment covering Kerdau state by-elections where we work from morning until midnight, everyday for almost two weeks without any break or holiday in between.

Judging from that assignment alone, it is almost impossible for me to take any part time job during weekend because I can’t promise with anybody that I will be be free next week or next few month or maybe next year. I work in Photojournalism line, news can happen at anytime, at any moment. I choose this line of duty so I really can’t give an excuse to my boss that I’ve a wedding job to cover next week when my boss assign me to cover Prime Minister visit to Sabah for an example. I must make myself free for any given assignment, unless someone in my family or my immediate family falls ills, then maybe my boss can find someone to take my place.

That is the main reason why  don’t do any part time job in the first place. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have a free time at all. So what I do during free times during my off day? I spent the time with my family, that’s why you see a lot of my family pictures in my Flickr stream. I use to follow photography outing when I’ve a free times, shooting portrait of a pretty lady on the weekend when I’m free but lately I’ve stop doing that, instead I’ve decided to spent more times with my family and I’ve no regret doing that. I know that a family picture will not attract a lot of viewer to my blog or to m Flickr stream but it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I don’t do what I do for the sake of getting people attention, I do what I do because I love what I do, whether people like it or not is not my problem.

I’m happy taking picture of my family, I bring my camera along whenever I go out with my family like the photograph above where I took it at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre or KLCC, our favorite place to hang around during weekend. I know that I can make some extra money with my skills but then again we can never have enough. I’m not rich and as a lower grade government servant, my salary is not that big, I didn’t get big fat salary at the end of the month like some higher ranking  government official but it is enough for me to feeds my family, to continue our life in moderation.

Sometimes I feel it is unfair for me to leave my family during weekend shooting other personal stuff instead of spending time with them. I was busy working from Monday to Friday and sometimes on weekend so I think it is appropriate for me to be with my family whenever I’m not working. With my chosen lifestyle, I may not be rich in the near future, I will not going to add any extra income to my family but I’m happy with my life and I will never change it at the moment, maybe later on when my son is big enough and “shy” to be seen around with their parents walking at shopping malls, then maybe I will think about part time job, but that depend on my physical ability also, whether I still have the energy when my son is growing up becoming a man. Until that moment arrived, I will not not change anything about it. Spending time with my family is priceless and I couldn’t ask for more.