A Thinking Street Photography Site
These are various snapshots in Singapore, with no particular order or theme in mind.
Though I must confess a significant number of images have to do with food…
He’s eating.
He’s texting.
He’s working really hard.
He’s buying.
I’m buying.
I’m buying some more.
These, I suppose, make up part of what Singapore is.
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2
Lots of street shots to do with construction workers.
Quite literally, these are the people who built Singapore.
I grew up in Singapore, and even to me, the heat is too much at times.
So yes, this is hard work.
These were taken at various places.
The scenes are ubiquitous.
Singapore depends a lot on foreign labour.
Working behind the scenes.
So we have these.
Camera: Olympus XA 2
Film: Agfa Vista 400
That’s part of a performance: it’s the London edition of Singapore: Inside Out.
The street composes itself.
Young artists.
Rectangular grids are easy to do.
The street is its own art.
The people and the streets are one.
Respect the street.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
This is an exhibition of Singaporean arts in London.
Singapore: Inside Out is a showcase of Singaporean art in Beijing, London and New York City. More info here.
There were lots of announcements like this on the walls at Brick Lane.
See – it’s here.
The cyclist got in the way.
Another cyclist.
Yet another cyclist.
That’s the Old Truman Brewery, converted into an arts and creative enterprises venue.
The neighbourhood is so arty that even unadorned walls have character.
At a café while waiting for the exhibition to open.
Performance art – I confess I don’t really get it. Red and white are the colours of Singapore’s flag.
He’s leaving smoke trails on the window … is this an ironic commentary on the ephemeral nature of Singapore’s national culture at an exhibition of Singaporean art?
The overall mood, partly because of the candles, is rather funereal.
That’s an installation on which the public is invited to scrawl/doodle.
The installation is still clean … the exhibition had just opened, after all.
Info panels.
There’s a … grass lawn exhibit.
This I understand – books on a shelf.
Fortunate placement of people.
That’s the Actors’ Tour, during which the monologues of various featured artists were performed.
There’s the mention of Singapore’s arts and culture policy, and a hint of self-conscious deprecation concerning state-sponsored art.
I fired off a few shots before realizing my DSLR might be a little bit loud and distracting… I switched to my more discreet Olympus XA2 (more in another post).
The performance art again – check out the funereal-looking candles.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Lens: Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM
Brick Lane!
This was where I was really inspired.
The arty and grungy environment gets one in the mood for street photography.
Everything seems to fit.
The people and the walls go well together.
A fantastic indie label.
A self-portrait.
He was cutting grass.
Cool dude.
The colours are simply wonderful.
They saw me and waved.
Beautiful people, beautiful wall art.
The kids were enjoying the art too.
Lots of cyclists.
A smile and a frown.
Hard at work.
Another cyclist.
Cool name for a shop.
Taking a break.
Nice juxtaposition.
Another cyclist.
Mischievous dino – I thought the colours went well together.
The street art is gorgeous.
Street art is meant to be seen with and by people.
They had those in Paris too.
Just another day for her.
A reminder that I need to get closer.
At Brick Lane, the street photographs present themselves one after another.
I can’t click fast enough.
This place is a visual cornucopia.
And I saw this – an exhibition of Singaporean art at Brick Lane.
As it turned out, I bumped into Randy Chan, the curator of the exhibition. I recognized him from a photo in a newspaper report on the exhibition.
More on Singapore: Inside Out in another post.
Funny.
I couldn’t resist a final shot at the entrance of this excellent place.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Lens: Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM
I was in Singapore for a short working trip, presenting a paper called “The Poetics of Occupy Central – A Photo Essay” at an academic conference.
So of course I brought my camera along.
I spent an evening on my own, a day before wifey joined me at the hotel.
So of course I did the most natural thing that came to me – I pretended to be a tourist at VivoCity.
Darn – I can’t seem to fit a filter on my lens without it vignetting (see top corners).
It seems like my Voigtlander 35mm doesn’t like filters.
I’ve tried a B+W filter, and a Hoya filter as well. They both vignette.
I would be grateful for any advice from readers more knowledgeable than me in this respect.
Crowded shopping malls depress me.
There was a bridal fair – and you realize weddings are very regimental affairs.
Everyone (including myself) is searching for life’s defining moments in a cookie-cutter manner.
There’s a water park of sorts above the mall.
The feeling here is more carefree.
But such scenes are possible only because of the packed shopping crowd below.
They are paid for by all that buying and selling that happens below.
We all buy and sell in our cookie-cutter lives so as to achieve moments like the one above.
Of course, it’s not just Singapore or VivoCity that does this.
One could never be truly outside of VivoCity, even if one leaves.
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander 35mm F 1.4 Nokton SC
Film: Kodak Bw400CN
Here’s a mishmash of images of Singapore, significant to myself.
Though the underlying theme here is about how we try to snatch something beautiful out of what is essentially functional.
Form follows function in much of Singapore.
Life, too, follows function: poetry is a luxury we cannot afford.
There is one way only. The rest is barred.
If you live with it long enough, it becomes beautiful.
Draw the curtains.
Poetry delayed is poetry denied.
We are at the zoo.
The helpful tram driver and a passenger.
After the animal show – poetry is found after the event.
Reflections in the MRT.
The tree is obedient, bent in the wind.
Perhaps something is poetry after all…
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander 35mm f 1.4 Nokton SC
Film: Ilford XP2
At the zoo in Singapore with my son.
We did a double photo combo, with my 10-year-old son holding the Canon 600D with a 40mm f 2.8 STM lens and I holding my Leica M6. I’ll post my photographs another day.
All photos here, except for the elephant shot, were by my son.
On the way to the zoo, he found the water droplets at the back of a bus interesting.
He’s developing a good visual sense, I must say.
Nice monkey.
Nice erm … plant thingey.
Looking up to see itself.
Nice fishes.
A very charming gentleman.
Nice big mole.
I waited for a while before everything came together in this shot.
I told my son to wait till all the necks were parallel with one another.
Would have been better if they were between the trees in contrast with the background.
A horse (pony?) sticking its neck out.
Feed the goats!
My son was fascinated by the polar bear show.
It’s a powerful looking bear. We were told polar bears weigh only about 350 grams at birth.
This is grace.
Power.
Determination.
When I grow up I want to be a polar bear.
I’ve lived in Hong Kong long enough such that I could see Singapore with a fresh set of eyes.
Some of the buildings have become rather futuristic.
And public housing flats are beginning to look very homely.
Singapore is home, a comfortable grid.
We’re all fitted into grids.
Nice looking public housing.
Was at Hard Rock Café with my family.
An amazing acoustic set – it’s nice to listen to local acts with my wife… while trying to get our children to eat their broccoli.
The HRC I know were Saturday clubbing nights, 2 decades ago.
As I looked around at the various tables, I saw expat families with kids, tourists and middle-class locals out for dinner.
Times have changed – or perhaps I have changed.
Once upon a time, I wanted to be a rock star with my acoustic guitar.
The lyric he’s singing: “I’m all about that bass, about that bass, about that bass…”
Subsequent serious research (Google and Wikipedia) tells me it’s really a very cool song.
Now, I see HRC as an F&B outlet using rock music as a marketing tool, reaching out to customers like me who’ve come of age with the likes of GnR, Bon Jovi and Skid Row.
Perhaps I’m getting older and more cynical.
Still – it’s good to be young and idealistic.
HRC still looks impressive.
The colour is wonderful.
Orchard Road is gearing up for Christmas.
Hilton façade with a dash of nature.
A Martian landscape in full colour.
Equally interesting in monochrome.
It’s nice to be young…
An empty bus looks somewhat disturbing, like an unfulfilled promise.
This looks better – all blurry and full of promise.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Lydith 30mm f. 3.5
Let’s say you’re standing in a long queue – the longer, the better.
You’ll have an excuse to loiter and try different compositions as you move closer…
There’s a rhythm you’re trying to capture.
You try for a kind of harmony, a convergence of human actions.
You don’t know when to stop looking.
You go on trying one shot after another.
Would the stack of bowls add to the composition, you wonder.
Or is it better with the person out of focus but framed by the hanging chickens?
Would it work better in landscape or portrait?
Landscape is better – I think … but here the person is hidden.
There’s a potential statement here to be made about how human relations are obscured by commodities.
Maybe having him framed after all is better.
Is it better with the bowls partly showing?
Or not? Maybe my next shot would be better.
Maybe it’s better with the spoon container fully captured.
Would it be better like this? Probably not. If only she’d turn around.
Or this, after all? Nice, clean and simple. And the composition is busy enough to be interesting.
Or perhaps this?
Check out my Saatchi Art page!
Hong Kong Lucida 