JOLENE & JOEL LIM , FASHION STYLIST & PHOTOGRAPHER

THEY make a unique tag team in the glamorous world of fashion styling and photography.

Not only are they siblings, but Joel and Jolene Lim both graduated from University College London in disciplines far removed from their trades. Photographer Joel, 32, has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering and a master's in information systems, while his younger fashion stylist sister has a physics degree.

'My folks wanted us to get a good degree first but I realised while I was reading physics that what I wanted really was an arts degree,' says Jolene, who went on to complete a one-year course in photography and fashion styling upon graduation.

She then interned with some of the top stylists in London, including Marie von Haselberg and Elodie Feat, before striking out on her own.

For the past couple of years, Jolene, 29, has been based in Hong Kong, where her creative flair is much sought after by magazines and newspapers, including the South China Morning Post.

Joel, meanwhile, works for a bank in Singapore, but the self-taught photographer has also been shooting fashion spreads for the past two years.

'I used to take random things with my father's old Pentax and discovered I had an eye for composition. I started taking pictures for my friends' weddings and people on the streets,' he says.

Jolene saw his work and convinced a magazine editor in Hong Kong to try him out for a fashion spread she was styling.

The session - which the siblings nicknamed the Lady Gaga shoot because it involved a model in a platinum wig and outlandish outfits - was a big hit.

'When the spread came out, the industry in Hong Kong took notice. It didn't look like a local shoot and everybody started asking me who the photographer was,' says Jolene.

'We trusted and understood each other. We have the same style anyway, we understand lighting and colours, so it's a breeze working with him.'

Adds Joel: 'That shoot and the reaction gave me a lot of confidence.'

He was soon flying regularly to Hong Kong on weekends to work with his sister. They also started shooting and styling for Singapore fashion magazines like Elle.

Their work caught the attention of the Asia Fashion Exchange organisers, and the duo landed the gig to shoot this year's Blueprint campaign.

Joel, who is married to a public relations director, says the AFX is his most high-profile assignment so far. He and his sister are also shooting and styling the Star Creation campaign and the photographs for a booklet on Singapore designers by International Enterprise Singapore and the Textile and Fashion Federation (Singapore).

He has made such a success of his hobby that he may give up banking to go into fashion photography full time.

'I've always been interested in people photography,' says Joel, who believes the AFX will help to bolster Singapore's reputation as a fashionable city. 'I also love beautiful things and I find fashion to be the epitome of beauty.'

His sister agrees: 'The fashion scene here has grown so much. It's great that they're bringing in all these designers and promoting all these new brands and talents.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.