Soon Lee Guan, Sibu Photographer

Soon Lee Guan was born in Sibu in 1929 during the Brooke Rule.

Although he is considered a pioneer in the world of photography in SArawak during times when few people practised the art of photography due to its costs and difficulty in obtaining hardware, he is seldom in the lime light when he was younger.

Many people also do not know that he was also the founding member of two photographic societies, those of Sibu and Miri.

When he was 22, in 1952, the became a founder member orf the Sibu Photographic Society of Sibu. In 1963, be became the first president of the Miri Photographic Society, a post he held fo 7 years.

According to his friends, he loved to travel to the rural parts of Sarawak, photographing what he saw, both official and non official events.

Today some of the photographs he took have become very rare "seen" scenery and moments of rural life.

He compiled a book, "The Changing Faces of Sarawak" before the 20th century ended when he was 72, which contains photographs he took of Sarawak during the second half of the 20th century.

He was awarded ARPS.

His photography bears witness to the historical and social development of Sarawak in the second half of the 20th century.