A new album by Janet Jackson is a huge event in the pop world. But there's something else about her latest offering, Discipline, that is causing a stir here - it has a Singapore link.

Jackson handpicked two Singaporean fashion photographers, Chuando and Frey Ow, to shoot the cover of her new offering, which was released in February.

And Chuando, 40, and Ow, 32, came up with an eye-catching image of Jackson wearing black rubber gloves with the album's name and her name scrawled in white.

Discipline is the singer's 10th studio album and three weeks after its release, it hit No. 1 in the United States Billboard charts.

The two photographers have shot many magazine covers and fashion spreads for magazines such as Elle (Singapore), Harper's Bazaar (Singapore), L'Officiel (Singapore) and Vogue (Australia and Taiwan).

While they are no newbies to photographing Asian stars such as Shu Qi and Rosamund Kwan, shooting Jackson was a real coup.

Both men - who declined to say how much they were paid, except that it was a six-figure sum - said they found Jackson, 41, to be a 'megastar without airs' during the shoot, which took place in New York last November.

Chuando, who owns Ave modelling agency here, says: 'Models whine, but she never once complained.

'We shot for two days, 8am to 1am on the first day, and 10am to 2am on the second day.'

Ow concurs: 'She was always checking with us if she got it right. And if she was not comfortable with something, she would just tell you nicely.'

And Jackson is all praise for the pair, whom she calls 'CD and Frey'.

In her behind-the-scenes video (it comes with the original album), she says: 'I had a wonderful time with them. I didn't know they were so famous. They're really famous photographers... and they're very, very good at what they do.'

So how did a Singaporean team land such a big gig?

Says Chuando: 'We first met her when we shot her about a year and a half ago in Tokyo, for a cover and fashion spread for Harper's Bazaar (Singapore).

'That cover and spread received rave reviews from her people and fans, who loved how fashion forward she looked.'

After that, Jackson's manager asked them to submit a quote for her album.

Then came conference calls which involved the singer, her managers, hairstylist and make-up artist.

Ow says: 'During the second conference call, we listened to the tracks in the new album. The first one was Feedback and I thought, 'What a catchy tune, a sure winner.' There were others in between but the last one, Discipline, really struck me. It was very sexual.'

Although Jackson wanted a sexy look, she did not want anything hard or crude, and definitely 'nothing that would scare off her fans', says Chuando.

That was crucial, given her famous Superbowl 'wardrobe malfunction' in 2004.

During a half-time performance with pop star Justin Timberlake, Jackson's nipple, encased in a decorative ring, was seen on US prime-time TV.

Jackson received much flak for the incident, which affected sales of her subsequent albums, Damita Jo and 20 Y.0.

Chuando recalls: 'Despite the conference calls, there was still no indication whether we were going to be the ones to shoot Janet until we received our plane tickets. Then we knew we were picked.'

The best buddies were flown over to New York on Business class and stayed at Le Parker Merdien, a stone's throw away from Jackson's new apartment.

'We brought along one assistant from Singapore, but everything else was rented for us - two studio lots, cameras and the use of two more assistants,' Chuando says.

Photos for the album cover and the CD were shot over two days at the Pier59 studios, a 100,000 sq ft facility considered a photographer's and film crew's Disneyland with its huge studio spaces and multi-media support facilities.

Chuando and Ow spared no effort in scouting the clothes they wanted Jackson in.

Ow says: 'We went all over, getting the clothes from uptown to downtown New York, even from the Bronx.'

Jackson, by the way, is petite, fitting into sample size clothes, he says.

The duo are credited for the album packaging, art direction and photography on the CD sleeve.

The Asian influence is certainly present: The album bears two Chinese characters on its CD face - yong shi - which loosely translates to brave warrior.

Then, there's the opening line of her catchy dance hit, Feedback: 'Light skin, dark skin, my Asian persuasion, I got them all, that's why these girls out here hatin/cuz I'm sexy - do you like my style'.

Jackson, says Chuando, is very shy, and very caring.

'I remember lying on the floor at the end of the shoot because I was having a migraine. She walked over to ask me whether I was okay. She said that if I wasn't well to travel back, I could always extend my stay.

'When I came back to Singapore, I got an e-mail from her asking whether I was in good health.'

It has been months since the shoot but both men still feel that the experience was surreal.

Ow says: 'When I see posters of her album plastered all over the music stores, I think, 'That's our work'. There's a big sense of achievement there.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Apr 6, 2008.