Nine Years of Tatler’s Best & The Story Behind White Room Studio, Singapore

When Tatler Singapore first named White Room Studio the country’s Best Portrait Photographer in 2017, we didn’t quite know what to do with ourselves. We’d spent eight years by then with our heads down, photographing families in a shophouse on River Valley Road, not really expecting anyone from that world to notice a small natural-light studio run by a brother and sister. They noticed for nine years running. And this ninth is the last — Tatler has retired the award. So rather than mark it the way we have before, we wanted to write something closer to a thank-you letter.

The record — Tatler Singapore’s Best of Singapore, Best Portrait Photographer: 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025.

People often ask us what it’s like to receive this recognition year after year. Here are some of the questions we hear most often and our honest answers.

We should tell you where this actually began, because it wasn’t in a boardroom or a business plan. It began with our mum back in 1970s Singapore, and the 35mm rangefinder she took everywhere. A young woman toting a serious camera around the island back then was an unusual sight, and we were her constant subjects. For Elaine especially, the image of their mother photographing so intently never left her.

The rest arrived almost by accident.

Elaine brought a film SLR along during her Japan backpacking trip and came home changed. Nine years in Australia followed, studying commercial photography at RMIT Melbourne and learning the slow craft most people never see: darkroom printing, retouching, finishing a portrait to fine art standards.

Dan studied photography at NAFA, and being drawn to street and pet photography, subjects that never pose and never wait, struck out on his own by 2007 with a photo studio in Singapore.

When Elaine returned in 2009, the two halves fit. Her patience in finishing a photograph, and Dan’s instinct for catching one. It felt natural to build something together and White Room Studio opened that year.

This was what we noticed early on, that although Singapore had no shortage of photographers, few studios cared as much about how clients were treated, or how the final images were retouched, presented and preserved. That gap became our whole reason for being.

What stays with us across those years are the families who came back! First a maternity shoot, then a newborn, then a wriggling toddler, then a whole family with grandparents in the frame. A few we’ve watched grow up almost entirely from a teenager who’d rather be anywhere else during the family shoot, back a few years later for graduation photos in the gown, and later again for a corporate headshot. One day some of them will bring their own newborns in, and we’ll have come full circle.

Since opening in 2009, White Room Studio has documented more than 19,000 portrait sessions. But the number was never the point— that return, that trust across years, is the real recognition. The awards simply named something our clients had already given us.

Many of those families have returned year after year, allowing us to document their story as it unfolds. Learn more about their annual family portraits tradition.

The honest answer is unremarkable: we listen, and we don’t hard-sell. Dan puts it plainly. It’s never worked on him, so he’d never do it to a client. What it comes down to is the relationships we’ve built over the years.

A portrait session is never just about taking a beautiful photograph. It’s about creating an experience where people feel comfortable enough to be themselves. When families walk through our doors, we want them to feel that they’re not just coming in for a photoshoot, but instead, they’re returning to a place where they know they’re understood.

Knowing how to put a stranger at ease so the honest pictures can happen is something our team has mastered over thousands of sessions.

At the end of the day, what makes White Room Studio different is not just the photographs we create. It’s the journey we share with our clients and the privilege of being invited back to capture the next chapter of their story.

When we first created White Room Studio, we wanted more than just a photography studio in Singapore, and envisioned a space with character, one that would feel timeless and meaningful for every family who walked through its doors.

White Room Studio has been operating from a beautiful corner 1927 heritage shophouse at 219 River Valley Road, Singapore, which has been our home since 2009. This conservation building became the perfect home for the studio. Its original character: the timber flooring, the coffered timber ceilings with their squared panels laid open overhead, the wide expanse of tall windows, and the balcony overlooking the greenery of Fort Canning, drew us in. Over the years we added our own hand to it too, building the textured Peranakan wall and the European-inspired archway that many visitors now assume were always there.

Rather than creating temporary sets that follow trends, we chose an authentic environment where families can feel comfortable, connect naturally, and create portraits that remain meaningful for years to come.

For us, the shoot is only half of it. In the weeks that follow, we curate and enhance every frame by hand. It’s focused, unhurried work, and we do it after everyone has gone home.

When families return to the Gallery Room, we show their portraits for the first time on the big screen. The scale of it catches people off guard, and we never tire of watching a face change, from a little unsure, to wide-eyed, to almost in tears. It’s often here, not during the session, that someone goes quiet, or reaches for a hand. Those are our favourite moments in the whole journey!

Photography is art, after all, and art deserves a considered eye. We’ve learned to see how photographs work together: which frames belong side by side, which one deserves to be a large print on its own, which sequence carries a story across an album. Narrowing a life’s moment down to a few is hard, and we’d rather do it with you.

This last part of the journey matters as much to us as the first click of the shutter, and we think it’s part of what Tatler recognised too. Not just the photographs, but the care wrapped around the whole experience of coming to White Room Studio.

White Room Studio was named Tatler Singapore’s Best Portrait Photographer for nine consecutive years, from 2017 to 2025. So this is our thank you! To Tatler, for seeing what we quietly believed in, nine years in a row. And to every family who walked up our stairs and trusted us with the people they love most. You are the reason any of it meant anything.

What inspires us most is the trust families place in us to capture the people they love and the moments they never want to forget.

From a first portrait to multi-generation family photographs, every session becomes part of a larger story.

After more than seventeen years, we are still grateful for every family who walks through our doors and every story we are invited to preserve.

Went here with my family & grandparents, it was fuss free, huge place to dress up and touch up too, photographer was friendly and everything went smoothly. Choosing photo went smoothly with the help and advice from the colleague. 10/10 RECOMMENDED!

– Faris

My wife found them online without any recommendations and we went for a family shoot with our toddler and newborn, I was extremely impressed with our photographer, he was extremely patient with us and our newborn, and he made the whole process so easy especially when you are stressed out with a crying hungry newborn. Not only that, we just had our photo viewing with Alison and we were blown away with the photos, they were beyond expectation. Our editor Alison was also very patient and engaging with us, going through the photos she helped us choose and allowed us to spend time viewing and commenting on each photo and how we would like it edited. Overall I’m truly impressed with this company, true professional of their craft. I will surely return when my kids are older to shoot with the White Room Studio team again!

– Antonio

Had a wonderful graduation shoot with my parents at White Room Studio. Our photographer, Yan, was so lovely and had a great eye for creative direction. The whole session felt so natural and fun. My mom actually found this studio through ChatGPT, and it ended up being such a good pick. We’re really happy with how the photos came out!

– Leanne Delgado

After searching for the best photography studios, I’m so glad I found The White Room Studio. I absolutely loved the colonial charm of the house and its beautiful high ceilings. It reminded me of my in-laws’ home, where I used to stay in the Highland pre-war house, which brought back many fond memories. We had a wonderful time and are so grateful for the beautiful experience you created for us. Thank you once again for capturing these precious moments that we will treasure for years to come.

– Mona-N & Lynn-Berthe Family