WHILE many of us music fans are never really able to get too close to our favourite artistes while they’re performing on stage, photographer and band manager Eleena Mohd Riduan has developed a special bond with most of her subjects.
“The trick to taking good photos of performers trying to catch their eye during the performance, so that they’re looking straight into your lens,” says Eleena or Ena, 27.
“When you’ve hung out with them and they know you, they tend to look your way during a performance, and it’s then that you can capture everything they’re feeling in that moment.”
These soul-baring moments go back almost five years, when Ena was asked by her childhood friend, popstar Hunny Madu, to become something of an “official photographer” to the star.
Previously, the actuarial science graduate’s interest in photography was nothing more than a hobby. Eventually, she found herself frequenting gigs and getting to know the performers in the independent music scene.
“Through these early gigs in jazz clubs, where I would shoot photos of Hunny, I met other musicians and got to know the independent music scene,” says Ena, who worked as a consultant for two years before taking up photography full time.
Ena at the Laguna Music studio
“I met (record label) Laguna Music’s director Jeremy Little, who then asked me if I would like to manage a band,” she adds. Ena deals with all scheduling and promotional details involving the band Lab The Rat – from making sure they make rehearsals and recording sessions to negotiating performance details with gig organisers.
“It can be tough working out schedules for a band whose members are adults with nine-to-five jobs, plus, two of them are married and one has children,” says Ena, laughing a little.
Although her life pretty much revolves around Lab The Rat’s band members, Ena finds a balance between managing people she knows as friends and drawing the line between business and personal matters.
She is looking forward to what she considers will be her biggest reward – the release of the band’s new album.
“That will make it all worthwhile. It will mean that everything we’ve been doing for the past months has come together and after that, we will move on to promotions and touring, which I’m very much looking forward to,” says Ena.
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