S'porean man, 58, draws caricatures for S$5 & dispenses them through homemade photo booth set-up

Armed with just one bag filled with all the supplies he would need, Faizal Bin Akbar set up his pop-up on a rainy Thursday evening along Haji Lane.

With him is a little foldable table and two stools, some art supplies and his small cardboard cutout to mimic a photo booth that dispenses his caricature drawings of customers.

The 58-year-old told Mothership that he had only started this venture two months ago, as he previously drew caricatures at events.

He shared that he came up with the idea for a photobooth as he liked the concept of dispensing the photo through the slot.

As he is retired and has time on his hands, he only took 10 minutes to create his cardboard cutout, before beginning to sell his caricatures for S$5 each.

Each of Faizal's drawings takes about 10 minutes, and when he is done, he draws the curtain and dispenses the finished masterpiece through a little slot, just like a photobooth.

Good at it

Faizal started drawing as a child, and he enjoyed it enough to switch to the art stream during his secondary school days.

To him, drawing was fun, and he discovered he was really good at it — a talent which he would get complimented for.

Faizal then made a career in drawing as he became an artist for local newspapers like The Straits Times and Today for over 30 years.

He eventually grew tired of drawing and wanted to do other things.

"I've been doing it for so long, I was like 'enough', I want to do other things.

But it just didn't turn out, so I came back to art."

Faizal has been retired for the past 10 years, and as a way to fill his time, he joined events where he would draw caricatures of guests.

Throughout the interview, a steady queue formed and continued to grow.

Faizal would remain busy until he closes shop at about 10pm.

Royalty

For Faizal, drawing caricatures is a way to interact with others as it requires him to be facing his customers.

And while he has met a lot of wonderful people doing his work, one interaction that he remembers was drawing for the King of Bhutan.

He was drawing at Wisma Atrium when the King and his entourage came down to get his caricature done.

"He's a very nice person," Faizal added, sharing that they had a chat while he drew.

Just do it

When asked if he had any advice for young Singaporeans who want to pursue the arts, Faizal said, "just do it".

"I understand sometimes, you have fears... But just do it, do your own thing. You'll get your niche."

Faizal also encouraged supporting local artists.

"There's a lot of talented artists, young artists... but show up [for them]".

If you wish to visit Faizal and his photobooth, you can follow his Instagram, where he typically updates his location.

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A post shared by Faizal Bin A Bakar (@faizalcaricatures)

Top photos via Khoo Wen-en/Mothership & Hannah Martens/Mothership