Daryl Aiden Yow Spills All In His First Interview After Photoshop Saga — Of His Scandal, Hiatus And First Photo Exhibition Since The Comeback

In September, he made a comeback with a poignant and somewhat sombre image: A bunch of burning photographs flung in the air (look closely and you’ll see they’re actual polaroids of the pix at the heart of the brouhaha). The message was clear: Daryl Aiden Yow is back and readier than ever for a fresh start. He re-branded himself not just as a photographer, but a Photoshop guru as well. Daryl Aiden 2.0 doesn’t just post fantastical paddle-pop hued pix, but also behind-the-scenes videos and images of the process too.

And it has all gone down well for Daryl so far. One day after his post, the folks from ASUS approached him and pitched the idea of holding a photography exhibition and Photoshop workshop, which is happening this weekend (Dec 14-16). Daryl, alongside six local artists such as illustrators Ripple Root and embroiderer Teresa Lim (aka Teeteeheehee), are part of ASUS art exhibition, Collison: Unleash Your Creative Power at Luxe Art Museum (see full details below). Daryl will showcase 10 photographs inspired by, what else, the past few months of his life. There’s no escaping from his past mistakes, and the one who knows this best is Daryl himself, who seems to have embraced the controversial harsh lessons, chewed them up and spat them out, re-emerging with a new determination to start afresh.

8 DAYS: You resurfaced on Instagram in September and three months later, you’ve got a photo exhibition at ASUS’ Collision event.
DARYL AIDEN YOW: I was very shocked when they contacted me the next day after I posted my comeback photo on Instagram. I wasn’t sure if people still trusted me, and what more, [to ask me to hold a] photography exhibition. I said I’ll definitely do it but I didn’t want to make it strictly about photography anymore. I wanted to change my approach. My work would consist of editing and photography, not just plain raw photography. I prefer to do something more whimsical and out of this world, so that would require editing. I was a little nervous about the turnout, but at the same time, I had some faith ’cos I received encouraging messages after I came back, and people told me that they wanted to see how I edited my photos. So I thought why not show people how to edit, because I have no issues with sharing knowledge.

What concept did you have in mind?
It’s inspired very heavily by the past few months. There’s a photo with three of me (below) — one of me is blinding the one in front, and another is whispering in my ear. That was inspired by the whole incident in June, and I felt blindsided, and there was a whole lot of noise and self-doubt in my head. I realised I was my biggest enemy and knew that I just had to overcome myself and I’ll definitely be much stronger. I didn’t want to make it too emotional or dark, but I still wanted to incorporate some of the more raw feelings that I’d felt and wanted to be able to talk to the people who would be attending the workshop about what inspired me for the photos. If I wanted to create something good and worthy of people’s time, I needed to come up with something very raw, instead of putting on a facade again, like, ‘I’m so happy and cheery all the time! Positive vibes only!’ That’s not what I want to sell. If you edited something, just say you edited something. If you’re sad, just say you’re sad. Last time, I tried to control my image too much, and it got a bit stressful.

Talk us through what it was like for you when the story first broke in June.
After I read the article, the first thing I felt was…(Pauses) I don’t know who I offended for the article to be written in that way. I kind of understand why they did it — it’s more readable for the masses. I knew I made mistakes, and I took responsibility for it and apologised. I didn’t want anyone else working with me to be implicated in anything, ’cos they were never in cahoots with me. All the editing — and over-editing — boiled down to me and my own insecurities back then. I felt like I needed to keep up and outdo myself. I purchased online Photoshop tutorials and learnt from the foreign Photoshoppers and through that, I was introduced to [stock images] and they said you can use this image to create an art piece and that’s okay. But now I know it’s not okay and that I have to declare it. It was a lesson learnt. But [at the time the scandal broke], I felt helpless at that time. Whatever I said or whatever statement I put out in my defense might be seen as a defensive response. So whatever people said about me, I just had to accept it. A part of me was also worried that whatever was said about me would become fact if I didn’t defend myself. But if I defended myself, I’d be opening up an even bigger hole for myself for people to attack me even more.

You were on a social media hiatus for almost three months. What were you up to during that time?
I was just chilling out and reflecting. I didn’t dare to go out ’cos I was just very paranoid. I felt that if I went out and people said I was dishonest, and a fraud and a liar, then it becomes fact because I couldn’t show or say anything to defend myself. Yes, I was definitely at fault, and it’s justified for them to say that. But I’d rather not go out. In those few months, I had no distractions or anything. I kept thinking if I were to come back, what would I do? How would I better myself? When everything started to simmer down, I bought more Photoshop tutorials so that when I come back, I could be even better than before. I also decided to be as transparent as I can. If it’s a paid partnership, just declare it’s a paid partnership. I don’t want to have anything to hide. And I don’t think I’d ever want to use another stock image.

How did your family react to the whole saga?
The incident was harder on my parents and brother. Whenever I woke up, I had a lot of motivation and energy to do something, but then I’d see my mother scrolling on her iPad, reading the comments again and again, and crying. And that just made me even sadder. She just couldn’t understand why people [left nasty comments]. She kept asking me if I was arrogant when I was working, or if I’d offended people. I don’t think I did — I still got my clients and supporters by my side. I think it’s just a generational thing. It’s quite sad to say, but we are more used to hate these days. When people hate on you, you’d be like, ‘Aiyah, people are just like that.’ But it’s not normal and it’s quite sad that I have to explain all this to my mum. I told her, ‘Trust me, it’s going to be okay. People hop from one topic to the next. And it will get better.’ I also told her to stop reading the comments. That’s why I archived all my posts also — I didn’t want her or myself to read them. At that time, there were about 15 new hate comments each time I refreshed Instagram. For me to remain sane, I couldn’t be reading all these. I didn’t read a single article about myself, except for the very first one. When people sent me links, I quickly picked out some words and if I deduced it’s an article that’s slamming me, I’ll put it away. So I knew people were talking about me and hating on me, but I didn’t know exactly what they were saying to me. During that time, I blocked my parents on Instagram too because I didn’t want people to find them on my following list.

So the entire three months you were on a social media detox?
Yes. It turned out for the better because my friends now say it’s much more fun hanging out with me. Last time, I’d just be on Instagram or on my phone all the time. (Laughs) Now, I don’t have the habit to constantly check the number of likes. If it’s going to do well, refreshing Instagram won’t help with the numbers. At that time, I think I lost myself also. I just wanted to outdo myself. If the previous photo had 2,500 likes, and the next one doesn’t hit 2,000 likes, I’d be very bothered and wondering why it isn’t getting as many likes. It got very unhealthy. My friends tried to talk to me about it. They’d be like, “Daryl, stop using your phone. I don’t want to hang out with you anymore.” So I’d stop and talk to them, but the moment I get a notification or a comment, I’d pick up my phone immediately to check. I’m very happy that I’ve broken my Instagram and Facebook habit. There’s a new Instagram function that tells you how long you spend on Instagram in a week. I try to keep it within two hours a week now, and I try not to go to explore page so much, and try to do more things talk to more people.

During this period, did you ever think about changing career paths?
Not really. During those months, I got one month of break without doing anything, but the next two months before I resurfaced, I had a lot of behind the scenes photography jobs. My clients were actually very supportive of me. I shot stuff like campaign images, but I’d tell them not to credit me because I was worried there would still be some backlash.

Why did you decide to make a comeback?
I didn’t want to come back until I thought of something good enough to post. I didn’t want my first post to be, ‘Oh look, guys, I’m in Iceland right now’. That’s just not going to cut it. I wanted something more raw, but still visually stunning. I told myself to just wait till I had something. Honestly, I dreamt of my comeback photo (below). I woke up and decided, okay this is what I’m going to do. I even drew it out in case I forgot. [Takes out phone to show a photo of his arm outstretched, and colourful doodling around it] I thought it was a very strong message. That was my past and I want to erase it, not because I want to run away from it, but because I want to change. I don’t want my past to define who I am. I want the new me to define who I am. I’ll make extra effort to appreciate people around me and the support I have even more. There was no pressure [when I had to come back] so I just waited. And this image felt right. I printed all those infamous photos on Polaroids and burn it. Just address the issue head on.

How did you feel when you posted your first picture after three months?
I had a lot of people around me when I posted it. My friends were very nice and came to my house, and my parents were there too. Everyone was on their phones and were like, “Okay, we’re ready to like your photo!” When I posted it, my best friend actually cried. She was very nervous for me and everyone was scared there would be more hate comments. But everything turned out really well. So I’m just very happy and I remind myself not to take it for granted. This is a second chance that people are giving me, so Do. Not. Screw. It. Up. I’m taking everything I’m doing now very seriously and with a lot of thought. Whatever I say, create, or post, even on IG stories, I’m very tactful. I make sure there is nothing to hide and that I’m 100 per cent transparent. If this thing hits me again, I’m going to like lose it. Really. I can only experience this sort of thing once in my life.

Now that you’re back, you’re marketing your Photoshop skills as much as you are your photography.
Editing has always been part of what I do, but I just didn’t realise it. I just thought photography and editing always came together. I’ve always been inspired by editorial photos and would Google ‘how to shoot an editorial photo like Vogue’ or something. From the start, I wasn’t the raw film kind of photographer. I follow a few Instagrammers who have very visually stunning photos and they’ll show the before and after pictures, and it always intrigues me. So I didn’t feel that editing or Photoshopping was a crime. Everybody does it, even magazines retouch images. But I know I went a bit overboard. But when it’s just some colour correction or minor retouching or removing a pimple on my face, I don’t see that as dishonesty. So I thought, I’m going to come back and Photoshop even more to showcase my skills but this time, I will declare everything. With this exhibition, every single photo is shot by me and no stock photos were used. Everything is Photoshopped, and every single image is coloured and layered. And I’m very proud of it and very happy to share [my thoughts] over four workshop sessions, to show people how I did everything and to have them do it as well. Even before the incident, I taught people how to crop themselves into nice backgrounds at workshops. But my mistake was not declaring it openly on Instagram. I totally take responsibility for that, and I know now I need to be totally transparent.

The exhibition and workshop is just around the corner. How do you feel?
I’m not nervous at all actually. I just want people to come and to talk to them in person. People have been messaging me to come back, so I’m excited to talk to people at the workshops, teach them things and hang out together after that, and even give them personal tours of the exhibition.

“With this exhibition, every single photo is shot by me and no stock photos were used. Everything is Photoshopped, and every single image is coloured and layered,” says Daryl.

For this shoot, former 8 DAYS cover girl Drea Chong lends her office and…her eyes. Psst, there’s also a contrasting version with Daryl’s eyes and Drea’s body instead. It didn’t make the cut because it’s “hilarious but cannot make it”, according to Daryl. So you’ll have to hope you bump into him at the exhibition and ask him nicely to show you the photo, which is hidden in…his phone.

This snapshot was anything but snappy — it took Daryl a whopping 12 hours to edit. “I had to edit every single droplet and mirror. I wanted to make sure that the end product was what I had in mind,” he explains.

The Collision: Unleash Your Creative Power exhibition is on Dec 14, 2pm-8pm, and Dec 15-16, 11am-8pm. Luxe Art Museum, 6 Handy Road (above Etto Restaurant). More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/957442467800357/. Photos: Daryl Aiden Yow