Special Interview Feature: Meet our Four-Time Mongolia Explorer-Photographer
I had an interview with Ryan last week. It was a call that had been rescheduled again and again, due to clashes in schedule and unfortunate sicknesses that hit. Finally, we managed to jump into a Zoom and the first thing that came up for us was, “Oh, we finally met!”
And this wasn’t just about meeting for the interview; I’d been working with Ryan several times when I put together articles for Beyond Expeditions (check out our most recent blogs, his photography truly leaves me in awe). So we weren’t strangers to each other.
Say hello to Ryan!
In this article, we feature one of the most important people in Beyond Expeditions. Ryan Cheng has been a professional photographer for 12 years, and has gone on four of Beyond Expeditions’ Mongolia trips. Often perceived as the ‘Zen’ master, he shows up to the world with a rather calm and collected energy, with lightness, ‘chill’ and ease. This article will bring you into his world; we talked about his career, and picked into some valuable insights he has from his trips with Beyond Expeditions so far.
We also took a peek into his most recent expedition where his fiancée joined him for the very first time, and guess what?
I even got him to select some of his favourite photos from each destination he has visited with Beyond Expeditions so far! You really can’t miss this one; I’m inserting these at the end of the article. Let his photos speak to your heart and open your eyes to the way he sees the world, to scenes you have not seen.
Now, let’s begin.
“Tell me more about you…
How many years have you been in photography, and what made you enter this scene and stay in the photography professional world for so many years?”
Ryan said that he has been doing photography for almost half of his life. “Close to 20 years… it was a passion for 3-5 years, before I did it professionally for 15. I’ve tried a lot of different ‘agenda’s of photography; fashion, events, journalism… but the final one that I arrived at is ‘wedding’. So now, I mainly do wedding and travel photography.”
I was surprised when I heard this; I only ever knew that Ryan was a travel photographer.
“What about wedding photography draws you in?”
“To be honest, weddings are where the money lies. It’s what pays the bills.” I nodded my head in acknowledgement. No surprise there, given how weddings are deemed such significant milestone events.
“Then a lot of people ask me, ‘Eh you keep shooting weddings, not ‘sian’ meh?’
(‘Sian’ is a commonly used Singlish slang that typically means ‘tiresome’ or ‘tedious’.)
But to me, weddings are always different because the couples are always different. Every day, I learn new things about each couple, and I get to meet all kinds of couples over the years, from the easygoing ones, to the highly demanding duos.”
I nodded, curious to explore further.
“Why travel photography then?”
“For me, travel photography is a way to let myself take a break from work. To go and shoot the scenes I’d not done before. It’s like therapy for me. My love till this day is still travel landscape photography.” There was a pause in the conversation. “Passion and work… “ Ryan paused again, looking deep in thought. I sensed that there was something more, so I allowed silence to fill the space while Ryan gathered his thoughts.
“... Here is what my mentor and some other people said to me back when I started:
‘You won’t do this for long.’
‘A lot of people will put you down.’
‘You sure or not?’
He chuckled. “Actually… now I want to thank them. Their skepticism and concern are what keeps me going, because I want to prove to them and myself. So I’m still here, doing photography, and honestly I’m not sure when I’m going to quit yet.” Shaking his head in slight amusement, Ryan continued. “Wedding photography has been quite ‘shag’ for me these past three years especially… my time is fully given to the clients. I’ve not had much time to myself. So I want to take next year to slow down my intake of wedding photography, and see if any breakthrough comes through.”
Looks like we might see Ryan out in Central Asia a lot more in 2024.
As Ryan shares about what keeps him going in the work he does, I’m inspired to think about my own “Why?”
And I’ll invite you to take some time to do so too. I feel that’s such an important question to ask ourselves: Why do we do the work we are currently doing? It could be because of what someone else said, because of personal goals for this chapter of our lives, or even simply because of money. There is no wrong answer — I’m asking you to ask yourself this question because our clarity about our “Why?” is what will sustain and propel us forward in our journey, especially when things get tough.
“How would you describe your experience as a photographer with Beyond Expeditions so far?”
“Wah, ‘experience’ ah… I’ve always wanted to go to Mongolia. As a photographer myself, I always like watching documentaries on Natgeo or Discovery channel. One day I stumbled across a video on Youtube that showed me a glimpse of Mongolia. And from that day onwards, I started doing research and watching more documentaries on Mongolian history and etc.”
Ryan on Mongolia’s frozen lake!
Ryan mentioned that he had known of Scott for a while, after coming across content by Beyond Expeditions on Instagram. They then officially met at “a very unlikely event”. Ryan laughed as he shared how Scott was there to do stamina training for ‘the wheelchair charity expedition’ (a.k.a, Beyond Limits 3), while Ryan was there to shoot pre-wedding photos for a couple. They bumped into each other, exchanged Instagram handles, and that’s where Ryan began to learn more about Scott and his business.
“The way he (Scott) runs his business shows what he stands for: to travel beyond. It’s not just about following a tour guide, going somewhere pretty, take pictures and then going onto the next place.”
Then in 2020, Scott reached out to Ryan and asked him if he was keen to go on a trip to Mongolia.
Ryan shrugged his shoulders and went “Why not?” He explained that besides Mongolia already being a destination he is interested in, it helped that Scott was very familiar with Mongolia, given his many prior trips to the country on his own or with expedition groups.
A glimpse of how Ryan would go all out for the ‘perfect’ landscape shot.
“This first experience in Mongolia, I was nervous. Because Scott shared with me that people often get ‘culture shock’ because of the food, weather conditions and such. But overall, I wasn’t very worried and was mostly looking forward to the trip.” Turns out, most of Ryan’s friends have told him that he is a very adaptable person, and he feels so too.
“Then when I was there… I didn’t get much of a ‘culture shock’... In fact, I loved it.” A huge grin stretches across Ryan’s face as he said this, and it was infectious. I found myself smiling at him through the screen too; there’s just something so precious about seeing someone talk about something that brings them such emotion.
Talk about ‘culture shock’… have you ever sat so near to hanging pieces of raw flesh and bone?!
Ryan hard (and passionately) at work during Beyond Expeditions’ Mongolian trips.
Ryan in the freezing cold of Mongolia, in traditional Mongolian attire!
“Could you tell me more about the differences in culture you’d experienced?”
“The accommodation. The food. Showering frequency. Weather unpredictability.
I feel it helped that I am an easy-going and ‘ZEN’ person. So none of this bothered me very much.”
In fact, in this recent Eagle festival expedition Ryan and his wife went on, they somehow got to experience all four seasons within the ten days they were there. Ryan was shocked, because it’s his fourth time in Mongolia but he has never experienced such extreme weather changes before.
“Imagine this: we are travelling and it’s sunny. Then, it’s abit of winter. Then you’ll experience autumn. Then spring.
We got to experience at least two different seasons each day.” Ryan shared that during the trip, there was this moment where he turned to his fiancée and told her that he didn’t know whether to say that she’s lucky or unlucky to experience this on her first trip to Mongolia.
I’d say, it’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience to talk about!
We continued our conversation, letting it flow wherever it goes, and here’s a part of it that I want to capture for you. Ryan began by sharing that Mongolia can be very advanced in the cities. “It’s kind of like our ‘Orchard Road’. But travel out to the countryside and you’ll find people who are super nice and down-to-earth. And it made me think… a lot.
People can lead simple lives, in this day and age still.
We dont need like what we have, fancy things, fancy food. These nomads we got to meet, they lead such simple lives. Simple TV, simple smart phone to communicate from one to the other. When I was there, seeing this brought me so much joy.”
Another landscape shot that Ryan took in Mongolia
Ryan proceeded to name a significant moment of realisation that happened for him. “When I came back from my first Mongolian trip, there was this moment where I was sitting in front of the TV with my wife and I suddenly thought back to what I saw in Mongolia. The kids there, they often play with each other in nature, and parents are often being fully present with them, talking during mealtimes etc.
In our current world, kids have iPads in front of them while eating, while parents do their own thing. There’s no human connection.
In Mongolia, communication is key, phones are secondary. In Singapore, phone is the top priority, while communication is put to the side.”
Ryan continued to share that when he was in Mongolia as working photographer for Beyond Expeditions, “... we take photos when it’s time to take. But when it’s time to connect with the nomads, we put away all our phones and gadgets. Even though there’s language barrier, we will use hand signs, the guide will help us translate.”
They were living in tandem with the way of life in Mongolia.
Ryan went on to explain how, when he was back in Singapore, people around him couldn’t understand his experience in Mongolia.
“When I describe it, somehow my friends… generally, people don’t get it.
When I came back and told my fiancée, she also struggled to understand the essence of what I had experienced in Mongolia. But when she came along with me to the recent expedition, she got it.”
Ryan chuckled, repositioning himself on his seat and leaning forward with this spark in his eyes. Intrigued, I leaned towards the ZOOM screen too.
“So we have this couple wallpaper that we both have as our lockscreens. SHE CHANGED IT TO THE MONGOLIAN BLUE SKY.” (I just had to use capital letters for this; his tone had raised in volume and he just sounded so amused and excited here!)
I laughed in surprise; this is just too cute.
“That just shows how much she loves the place. Personally, I’m okay with her not using my wallpaper, I’m not particular about it.” Ryan was more amazed by how much his fiancée loved the place. He sat back in his seat and firmly stated that he feels people should at least visit Mongolia once and experience the Mongolian nomad style. “Now, I’m telling you about my experience, and yes, there are beautiful pictures to capture the scenery and people, but it’s still such a different perspective from when you are there yourself.
My pictures can only bring that much to the audience… It’s still up to you to make that first move to go and see what is there, in person.”
So this time, Ryan went for the Eagle festival expedition. I asked him,
“What were two things that you learnt while you were there at the Eagle festival?”
“Wah, ‘learnt’ ah…” Ryan paused for a moment. “When I was there, this thought comes to mind; why would people want to take over the baton and continue this trade that is dying soon? Not many people would want to do this in the near future, and I salute the children who want to step up and take over the role of eagle hunters.” These are usually the daughters and sons of the current eagle hunters, who pick up the skills and traditions of this trade from their parents.
Ryan continued sharing that at this recent Eagle festival he attended on this Mongolia trip with Beyond Expeditions, “... this 15 or 17-year-old girl got the best record of luring the eagle to fetch the meat from her, and to see the pride on her and her parents’ faces…”
He shook his head slowly, and I could tell he was back in that moment, feeling the emotions that came with the scene he witnessed.
“Seeing that taught me to never give up what I love to do, which is something that applies to me when it comes to photography. Whatever people say doesn’t matter; what matters more is that this is something I have passion in.”
Just like Ryan, may we all always go hard for the very things that make us smile from deep within.
To end off the conversation, I asked Ryan this one question that has gotten me various kinds of answers from the different people I’ve interviewed for Beyond Expeditions so far;
What’s one thing you’ll tell someone who is considering coming onboard a trip with Beyond Expeditions?
Ryan responded with a ramble of several important pointers to note of.
“Research. Understand if Mongolia is truly a place you are interested to visit.
Pack accordingly to the packing list Scott gives. Keep in mind that Mongolia is truly an unpredictable place.
And lastly, take it light-hearted, have fun! City people like us, we tend to be uncomfortable with the differences and may turn to complaining… but when we can learn to appreciate the differences instead, that’s when we also learn to truly have fun.”
And this last thing he said, is what I personally find most important for you to pay attention to!
“Honestly, if you’re a princessy person with a low threshold for discomfort… don’t go.” After having done several interviews with clients who had gone on trips with Beyond Expeditions, this advice is a precious one. Understanding your comfort level is crucial when considering Beyond Expeditions trips. Everyone's relationship with discomfort varies, so there's no right or wrong. What truly matters is being aware of your own threshold and if you choose to come onboard these trips, you understand that you are choosing to challenge yourself, to actively work on improving it during these expeditions!
Here are Ryan’s favourite photos from his trips to Mongolia with Beyond Expeditions so far, like I promised at the start of the article!
And hey, do you feel it’s time for you to go too?
If you find your heart expanding as you read this article, I’m telling you… it’s a big hint that Mongolia could be a place you fall in love with. Not just for her beautiful wonders of Mother Nature, but also for the way her land and her people bring out parts of you that bring you inspiration, joy and a deep sense of peace.
I’m going to insert the itineraries for various parts of Mongolia that you can visit with Beyond Expeditions, you take your time to see which region speaks to you most.
West Mongolia (this centres on the legendary Golden Eagle festival!)
Central Mongolia (get a taste of Mongolia's ancient heartlands.)
And hopefully, we’ll see you in Mongolia soon.
Article written by: Valerie
Valerie, a freelance writer with a quirky infatuation with steamed buns and slightly bizarre food combinations.
(“Try soft-boiled eggs and hot milo!”)
She wishes to keep writing stories that bypass typical food reviews and appreciation of scenery, stories that inspire readers to pursue curious conversations about the unique cultures and lifestyles of every country.
