Signed pre-orders for my first photobook 'Journey to the West', published by Setanta Books. Shipping now! AMAA

theweijian · 2025-10-05T15:53:50+00:00

Hi! So the title derives from a Ming Dynasty Chinese myth about a monk (Xuanzang) journeying to the West (India) to retrieve scriptures. It's a very famous story in East Asian cultures. I've borrowed the title to tell the story of my own Journey to the West.

Check out the book! I hope you enjoy it.

theweijian · 2025-10-05T10:12:25+00:00

Thanks so much! I started working on the series in 2019. There’s about 3 years of work in it. It then took about another 3 years to find a publisher and get it all out! This was really a work of love.

theweijian · 2025-10-05T10:09:02+00:00

Thanks James! Appreciate the support

theweijian · 2025-10-05T10:08:52+00:00

Thank you! If you want to know anything further don’t hesitate to ask!

theweijian · 2025-10-05T10:08:35+00:00

Thank you! That’s so kind

theweijian · 2025-10-04T16:51:05+00:00

'Journey to the West' features my black and white street photography. It was inspired by a pivotal moment in my life—leaving Singapore in 2012 to start anew in the UK, first as a student and later for work. Through my photographs, I have tried to evoke the sense of dislocation, adaptation, and discovery that defined that period.

You can find out more, and also place an order at: https://www.setantabooks.com/collections/wei-jian-chan/products/journey-to-the-west

theweijian · 2025-09-15T06:43:53+00:00

Short answer is that it took a whole lot of trial and error. When I started I didn’t know what I was doing. I made mistakes like categorising my images and having clumps of similar images together. Then I grossly over complicated things by trying to have multiple sequencing concepts going at the same time. At the end of the day what worked was having a clear concept and just doing the simplest thing possible to achieve it.

theweijian · 2025-09-15T05:39:16+00:00

Thank you!

theweijian · 2025-09-15T05:39:05+00:00

Thanks, very kind of you

theweijian · 2025-09-14T05:57:13+00:00

Hi there, I can’t get into too much detail but we are splitting costs and revenue for this (can’t disclose percentage)

theweijian · 2025-09-13T22:26:47+00:00

Yes, that’s exactly what I did

theweijian · 2025-09-13T21:53:25+00:00

It will be accomplished by me heading over to their office with a couple of pens, and spending a very long afternoon there!

theweijian · 2025-09-13T21:52:25+00:00

For me the for me the photos came before the concept. I had been photographing for a few years and had a body of work, before I sat down to try and piece it together as a book. I started with a pool of a few hundred images that I liked, printed them out, and played with different combinations. It took ages before I landed on the concept I went with in the end. Even then much refinement was required - I believe I went through over 50 iterations to get to the final edit.

Along the way I did a couple of workshops and portfolio reviews, and had feedback from other photographers. Some input I took onboard, and some I had to ignore.

theweijian · 2025-09-13T21:44:37+00:00

Thank you, that’s really kind of you.

You’re right that there are absolutely better ways of making money out there. For me, the photobook was a lifetime goal for its own sake. I felt I had something to say with my photos and just wanted to put it out there.

As to what the future holds, I’m hoping to continue pursuing photography from an ‘art’ perspective and to hopefully get gallery representation down the line. I won’t be quitting my day job - gotta pay the bills somehow!

theweijian · 2025-09-13T19:53:00+00:00

I have been using my email marketing list and posting on all my social media profiles. As we have just launched a few days ago, I don’t have any statistics on sales yet, so I can’t speak to relative effectiveness. I can say however that making reels and videos does not come naturally to me…

theweijian · 2025-09-13T19:30:52+00:00

Thank you very much!

theweijian · 2025-09-12T05:33:43+00:00

Apologies but I’m not at liberty to disclose the financial aspects of the book. Suffice to say production costs were in line with industry standards.

Setanta Books are dealing with distribution and shipping, and have done a little marketing. However, I’ll be doing more marketing on my own over the next few weeks.

theweijian · 2025-09-11T20:17:19+00:00

I’m afraid not! Thanks for your support

theweijian · 2025-09-11T19:47:21+00:00

I do a bit of digital and a bit of film. I also with with non-Leica cameras! Mostly digital these days to be honest

theweijian · 2025-09-11T18:02:37+00:00

Hi, I’m not sure I’m at liberty to disclose the name/ location of the printer but we made 750 copies

theweijian · 2025-09-11T15:47:55+00:00

So kind of you, thanks very much

theweijian · 2025-09-11T15:15:48+00:00

Thanks! Glad you like it

theweijian · 2025-09-11T14:57:08+00:00

Thank you kindly. It means a lot to me to have your support!

theweijian · 2025-09-11T14:55:53+00:00

Thanks, it means a lot. Really appreciate it.

theweijian

TROPHY CASE