Words by Ben, Snaps by Juffry Joihani
Meet Juffry. He is a photographer. He is a rider. He is a man with a passion. He is a man on a mission.
He is the perfect example of a man who brought together his career and his passion. His road started back in 2003, when he took photography as his career and concurrently got his license to ride, as well as his first bike.
Bikes, like cars, are tools of passion. Even more so, might I say. Maybe it's the feeling of freedom one feels when riding a bike, or the sheer vulnerability to the weather, other vehicles, puddles of water, birds, bees, basically anything under the skies, that create a very strong bond between the rider and his machine.
This bond grew without Juffry realising it. Putting his career and other priorities in his life as his main focus, he began to neglect his TW200, and was led to sell it as he could not spend as much time with it as he used to. When, later, he got a new commuter bike, he realised a piece of himself was missing.
Looking around him, he noticed that many of his friends were living through the same thing - having to let go of their rides as they came to the end of their 10-year COE life, due to financial reasons, or the fact that for life to carry on, you sometimes have to leave parts of yourself behind.
This is what sparked Juffry's idea to start the Project Lion City Rides. This idea would bring together his passion to capture moments of life and freeze them in time through his lens and his pure admiration for bikes, and their bond between them and their owners. It would be something local riders would be proud of. It would be Singapore's first motorbike photo book.
It was his friend, Fadly, who gave him the final push to carry on with this idea, and soon after, Juffry started gathering friends riding custom, vintage and classic bikes and immortalising them through his lens.
Juffry's aim through the Project Lion City Rides, is for the owners and any bike enthusiast to be able to look back in time and share their rides, their passion, and the stories behind them with the younger generations.
As of today, Juffry has frozen almost 50 bikes in time, and will conclude the photography phase by the end of May. Following this, he will work on the design and layout of the 100 pages book with the aim of publishing in September 2014.
As you can see by the shots he has agreed to share with POWAA Garage, through his lens, Juffry communicates not only his passion, but also brings forth the bond the riders share with their bikes in a way almost palpable. Each of his shots is an artwork, through both techniques and subjects, and even if you don't ride a bike, Project Lion City rides is a book that will be worth having on your coffee table or on your bookshelf.
Project Lion City Rides is the dream of one, but the work of many, and Juffry couldn't have made it without the help and support of his friends.
For this, he will forever be thankful to his crew, Fadly, Faiz, Amin and Azhar who willingly sacrificed their time and energy for this project.
He would also like to thank the riders, of course, without whom the pages would be blank.
Props go to Jackson from The 7th Cylinder, Mingwei from A Motorcykel Area, and Jerry from Ipone Singapore for their support.
Last but not least, Juffry could not have done it without the loving support from his wife and daughter.
As the Project Lion City Rides is a non-profit project, Juffry has opened pre-orders to cover the printing costs of the book.
Pre-orders are going at SGD50, and include getting your name printed in the credits page. Show your support and be part of this unique project - head over to Project Lion City Rides' Facebook Page or drop Juffri an email at juffryjoihani@gmail.com to pre-order!
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