‘Whether you call me an artist or photographer, it really makes no difference. All I know is that this camera has become a part of who I am, a part of my journey in life,’ says Jefree. Photo: Ann Marie Chandy“It was the others, the people I came into contact with, who saw beyond that. I never imagined that one day I would get to exhibit my photographs in places like Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore,” he humbly shares.
“Whether you call me an artist or photographer, it really makes no difference. All I know is that this camera has become a part of who I am, a part of my journey in life,” he says, as he whips out his trusty Panasonic Lumix G85, which was gifted to him by a PhD student doing research in his kampung about five years ago.
“He came to my village, took videos and pictures. And from those images, many others have learnt about the history of my people. That’s why I keep all my photos, since I started this hobby, so we can look back and see the changes over time. My old photos are not that great, I was still a novice then, but I still keep them. You never know, they may come in handy for court cases someday!” he says.
Jefree finished high school in 1999, and then got an automotive vocational certificate. He started working at an auto workshop in JB soon after but says the pay wasn’t nearly enough to survive on, which is why he became a fisherman instead, like many of his fellowmen in the Orang Selatar villages.“I didn’t go for classes or attend a college or anything like that, I just learnt by trial and error ...
“When I got it back it was broken and I was so sad; I didn’t take photos for two years! I tried to get it serviced but the camera shops told me I would be better off buying a new lens, but I didn’t have the money for that. Nonetheless, I didn’t give up, because here I am today, still taking pictures.”In 2018, Jefree framed up some of the photos he had taken and hung them at his father’s seafood restaurant .
In his most recent exhibition in KL, a selected 11 photos and a video installation were showcased at the Gerimis Gallery in the GMBB mall. “I sent them to Wendi, and I had already whittled down to about half, choosing the ones that I liked best. Then Wendi and her team helped to pick photos that would be suitable to build a narrative. We had to choose photos that would inspire empathy ... bukan sahaja yang dilihat oleh mata kasar, tapi juga mata hati,” he explains.
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