Lightning Photo by Singaporean Photographer goes Viral
ByKate NgImage courtesy of Darren Soh
Streaks of pure white crackled against a stormy blanket of grey in unbelievably short intervals all through the night last Sunday. However, used to such weather phenomena, the inhabitants of the little island hardly batted an eyelid. Known as one of the lightning capitals of the world, Singapore has - believe it or not - approximately 168 lightning days (thunderstorms) on average in a year!
It is not easy to imagine that the mostly sunny shores of Singapore are an electric magnet, but it is precisely the country’s close proximity to the Equator, and the hot and humid tropical weather all year round, that causes the high levels of lightning activity. Most lightning strikes also last about a quarter of a second and therefore are hard to catch with the naked eye. Few have managed to capture the full extent of nature’s wraith, but independent Singaporean photographer Darren Soh has! He has been chasing lightning storms for years and never could photograph them to satisfaction till now.
Unsurprisingly, his photograph stirred up a storm throughout social media with Darren’s photo racking up more than 43,000 likes and over 14,000 shares overnight on Facebook! It also reached the Facebook page of Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, who praised Darren for having “a knack for making the everyday extraordinary”. Quickly, internationally renowned news websites like The Telegraph and The BBC and AsiaOne in addition to local media coverage featured his incredible shot of lightning bolts that covered Singapore’s night sky - expanding his viewership beyond his wildest expectations.
If you are still in awe with this photograph and wished you had your very own, you are in for a treat! The Artling has teamed up exclusively with Darren Soh to produce limited print editions of his lightning imbued photographs - available here now! Prints will be signed, numbered and dated on the reverse.
To find out more about Darren Soh or see more works by the artist, click here.
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