GEORGE TOWN, Aug 7 ― Unless you have flown into (or out of) Penang, you would not have enjoyed a bird’s eye view of the island.

But these views from the plane’s tiny windows can barely compete with the images captured by photographer David ST Loh with his drone.

Loh started taking drone photographs of Penang back in January 2018 after he bought a drone for an unrelated project and the initial images amazed him.

"The more I fly the drone, the more amazed I am about how beautiful Penang is,” he said.

Those early images of Penang were showcased at his first solo exhibition titled Over Penang during last year's George Town Festival. 

That was the beginning of an idea for a book but Loh realised that to make his collection of photographs complete, he would need to capture more moments and festivals in Penang throughout the year.

By January this year, he had all the images he needed for the book.

His wife Rebecca Lee helped in the project as the co-ordinator while he partnered with writer Bettina Chua Abdullah, editor Gareth Richards and designer Allie Hill to put the book together.

"The process took about five months and the first copies were ready in July…  it was quite a rush as we wanted to bring some copies to our exhibition at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore,” he said.

David Loh is planning to take his exhibition 'Over Penang' overseas to show people Penang is more than street food and street art.

He said the book ― similarly titled as the exhibition ― complemented his exhibition in Singapore, the first of a series of exhibitions he plans to hold in other countries in the months to come.

"We want to show the world the beauty of Penang, we want to invite visitors to come see Penang, not only to come for the food and the heritage but to admire its natural beauty,” he said.

Loh printed 2,000 copies of the book and has since sold 800 copies with plans to reprint the book soon.

Loh is now planning to take the Over Penang exhibition to Kyoto in Japan, Hong Kong, Jakarta in Indonesia and Sydney in Australia.

He said he is arranging for exhibitions in these countries and welcomed the Penang state government to join in as part of the efforts to promote Penang.

Due to the success of his Over Penang exhibition, Loh was commissioned to document an Over Sarawak series for the Rainforest Fringe Festival this year.

"I took about 40 images for the festival which covered about 60 per cent of Sarawak but we are not sure about the demand for us to cover the remaining 40 per cent as it would need a whole year to cover all of the festivals there,” he said.

Loh is now also working on other similar drone photography projects and considering doing it in Bali, Singapore and Langkawi.

The book is published by Loh"s own company, Elaton Publishing. Those interested to purchase a copy may send him an email at david.loh@elaton.asia.