yuyu has been great… trying to spend as much time as he can with me… here’s wat we’ve been up to. just wanna share the pics.
@ creme bistro: pics resolution quite bad…
@ sentosa:
@ my fav korean restaurant for lunch
love camwhoring in the train:
n yesterdae in town shoppin n having jap food. kungfu panda is a damn funny movie. go watch!
i had fun baby. thank you.
Finally met up with Kristle on tuesday. its been so long… we hardly get to catch up but everything feels the same when we do. all the bitchin i did tt dae… thanks babe. you were quiet, by the usual standard.
but the food made u back the wae u were. i still love the jiggy-ing in the train.
miss the face. =) damn the rain that blew up the skirts. again before before i leave ok. u should fly u noe. u realli should.
boy r blogs useful.
used to be such a fun thing to do. bloggin.
but i stopped coz i just didn’t want ppl to know so much about me, my life, without having to see me n actualli talk to me. bloggin makes ppl more distant.
but now, becoz i’m gonna be distant from all of you, so i think i ought to start again. so that i can tell all of you dearies how much you’re missed by me. n fill u babes in on what the hell i’m doing in shanghai. countdown to july 15. i’m honestly freakin out.
i’ll miss everyone. especially mom n dad. n yuyu. in dec my loves will fly down to see me. n den i’ll be happy again =)
till then, its a countdown.
Under The Canopy Of Love (no. 1 in exhibition)
If love is shelter, we never have to walk in the rain.
Love, can be so simple and everlasting. This middle-aged couple I took was enjoying their time on a weekday after. I wanted to depict this sense of peace in them. Whereby after an early life of struggles, when couples age together, we’ll eventually enjoy good times together as well.
Some people said it was ambiguous whether this man and woman were a couple or father and daughter. I think it’s all the more interesting in its ambiguity, since love transcends all relationship labels. A child’s love for his/her parent or a couple’s love both display so much affection and care.
Calligraphy (no. 8 in exhibition)
The beauty of fine art in the skill we call penmanship.
I was very impressed but this busker at People’s Park Centre. In this photo, we’re unable to see his other skills, but he was able to write so well using different parts of his body (toes, elbow, knees, mouth) and he even writes words when facing backwards!
But most importantly, I wanted to capture the passion in the man’s eyes, and form his bodily vibes. It is moments like this where his love for his art even excites people around him, and invites us to appreciate what he loves. It is a very magnificent thing to be able to impart and share your passion without imposing it others. I thought that was an amazing thing about this man.
The Men Don’t Get It (no. 12 in exhibition)
I stumble upon a therapeutic art piece.
Alternative title I wanted to give this piece: Maybe Next Pay Day
I sat outside the Chanel shop at Takashimaya for about half and hour in order to get some shots of women peering into shops. The idea that I want to portray is this sense of ‘wanting’ for material possessions in a positive way. It is because of such material aspirations that strives us to work harder each day, in short term- it gets us out of bed to work each morning.
I like how the other people that work pass the 2 ladies also show what a fast paced lifestyle Singaporeans have. We’re all in a rat race. And expensive possessions like those from Chanel are just things many of us can only hope to get. But we all need moments of hope to get us through. Hence, from the glass showcases is where we may always stand to look. But maybe next pay day… I will get what I hope for.
I also wanted it to be a sort of modern, or perhaps lay persons appreciation for the arts. Many a times, people don’t realize they are appreciating art in the things the buy. The design, the material, etc. And in standing from a glass window, admiring the object of art, we are in many ways, like in an art gallery. And in this case, a Chanel handbag will never be appreciated by men. Period.
Self-Assessment
I’ll give myself 96/100 for this one. 48/50 for effort and 48/50 for creativity. This is a hard one. Everyone really put in alot of effort, trying to make the exhibit as strong as possible. Most of the time, the pictures that we took all looked good on their own, but together, its was quite tough to piece them into strong exhibit that flowed well. I think I put alot of effort into thinking what ‘Moments’ were for any sort of person.
I think in the whole exhibit, Calvin’s photos were the funniest and most entertaining (even though were taken mostly in the same place), but the ones he chose for the exhibit were very apt, so i give him full marks. Rebecca also showed that she put in a lot of effort by going out to tk more photos so that we chould choose more from.
I think this assignment really tested our ability to work togther well as a team. So it would be very unfair if i were to assess my team mates solely based on the quality of their photos. Teamwork, effort and communication were very important as well. So for this, I’d say Qiyi, Eileen and Nurliyana put in the most effort. While for photo-wise, Calvin and Rebecca gave the best photos.
The Day After… We’ll pay even more…
ok, so i’ve finally gotten down to completing this assignment. Really wasn’t happy with the previous one. so here’s my new piece.
Its titled: The Day After We’ll Pay Even More
basically, this idea came to me one of those mornings when my dad was complaining how much motorists had to pay now, after the hike in the ERP fees again. And its not like we wake up late in the mornings and rush to work. Most mornings, even when we’re on the roads as early as 7 plus am, the roads would be jammed and even though we pay so much!
So, the day after tomorrow, in the near future, in our children’s future, will they pay much more? not just ERP of coz, for everything else. We I still live here, like my parents, in spite of the high cost of living?
The ‘fixture’ of 2 ERP gantries, one after the other, is merely my exaggerated view of what may come in the future. Ridiculous policies which we can’t really control: cars just have to pass both gantries!
Self-Assessment:
I’d give myself 97/100 (48/50 for creativity and 49/50 for effort). I wanted to highlight the ‘ERP’ words on both gantries so i enlarged them. Also, I intentionally placed the sliver car before the 2nd gantry to spoof on the recent incidents of how some cars braked immediately when the didn’t know they were about to cross an ERP gantry. It really comes to show how ‘sneaky’ these huge gantries can be huh… all in all, i just think this is so funny… coz i’ll freak out one day if i was driving along and passed 2 gantries at a go…
My assessment is based on the critique i did of other classmates in the previous assignment 4 entry.
It has been so tedious coming up with a theme to work on that has direction for us to take. It must include a SIngaporean-ness to it. It must mean something to me. It must connect with the audience. It must be interesting, challenging, etc etc etc. How the h*** can i possibly achieve all these?!
Down to work
So eventually we decided on capturing PDA or public display of affection in Singapore, since it is still considered quite a taboo in our society. We as youths may dismiss such things if we see it but the older generation may not. How than can we address this issue? We wanted to show that PDA doe snot neccessarily equate to a negative thing the moment someone mentions the term. It could also be shoing one’s affection in public to an elderly, helping him or her across the street. kids could be sharing an icecream, an elderly couple quietly enjoying each others company, a young teenage couple simply holding hands. There are just so many ways to display and express one’s affection to another.
Finally, we decided to simply capture Affection. Singaporeans are affectionate about so many things in our society; men and their cars, women and their shopping during GSS, students and their grades, crazy people and their hello kitties, etc etc. we wanted to show what normal Singaporeans are affection about in this country.
Hence, while some Singaporeans, especially the youth, may deny any form of loyalty and affection for their nation, we are pretty sure they are affectionate about something IN this country that keeps them here, be it family, friends, or way-of-life.
Here are some of the things i captured, mostly about relationships that keep us where we are.
This is what i mean by awesome. Look at kids these days, so unafraid of what other’s think. It broad daylight and they’re making out! I feel that its a real good thing that the next generation might be the ones liberalising our society. I think i’m feeling old and a tad bit conservative now…..hmm…
Singapore culture? is there even one- perhaps many people would question. Look at our people (Kiasu, Kiasi, but its the same everywhere else). Our food (we just have more variety than elsewhere). Our gahmen (a love-hate relationship, which i’m sure different country folks have similar sentiments towards their own). But surely we recognise that there is some truth in the Uniquely Singapore label? what about our lingo… now thats a unique Singapore culture.
Personally, i’ve always been fascinated with Singlish. its just incredibly funny sometimes when even we singaporeans can’t grasp the totality of OUR lingo. we learn some new words everyday, and we teach others new vocab, or ‘bo-cab’ (no vocabulary) as i call it, too. The other day, my Singlish-impaired Singaporean friend asked me what is “‘tin teh’” (something like being uncomfortably obstructed, you just gotta know these kinda things, very hard to explain). And i replied that it means “zor teng”. Then me and my other friends had a good laugh, leaving my poor ‘handicapped’ friend lost in what seemed like a personal joke between the rest of us. basically, they both mean somewhat the same (from what i know, that is), but just that the former is expressed in hokkien while the latter in cantonese.
My point is, it makes a Singaporean life so much more interesting with diversity, and we have come to take it for granted. MM LKY mentioned that “Singlish is a handicap we must not wish on Singaporeans”. Singlish has long been condemned by the government as being an obstacle to nation-building (Rappa and Wee, 2006, p80). The government, though not unique in its embrace of the Herderian conception, has fallen into “homogenism: a view of society in which differences are seen as dangerous and centrifugal and in which the ‘best’ society is suggested to be one without intergroup differences” (Blornmaert and Verschueren, 1991, 1998: p194) This has led the state to reduce the number of languages spoken, supposedly to foster social cohesion. Maybe, it is neccessary for socio-economic, pragmatic reasons, but its not all that bad right for establish some sort of cultural, national identity right? finding something, ANYTHING, that comes close to establish a Singaporean-ness in us all, is an amazing feat already
How does this relate to photography…
I think its really difficult to find substantial materials, especially photographs that capture the use of Singlish. its a spoken element after all. But i think really good examples are all the Jack Neo movies that somehow an emphasis on the Singlish-ness in ur culture. without singlish, it can’t consider itself a singaporean movie, can it?
Many, i mean MANY, of out local productions, be it tv programmes such as channel 8 chinese dramas or food programmes like Makansutra and theatre plays such as DimSum dollies and Armydaze, all incorporate some form of Singlish. I would say it connects the audience with the performers and the subject it is discussing. If they were to speak in Queen’s english, as seemingly proposed by the state, then performers wouldn’t successful engage with their audience and we honestly wouldn’t enjoy the performance as much as we would have in Singlish.
This, applies to photgraphy as well. I guess all this while what Mr Reddy has been trying to tell us for our final assignement is that we need to feel Singaporean for the subject we are going to shoot. In doing so, can we then truly engage with the audience whom in return will be able to aprreciate what we have taken.
As easy as it sounds, i think i as a Singaporean have come to take for granted what i call to be Singaporean. Our group discussion with Tea, an overseas exchange student, showed me how as Singaporean youth, we can be really unappreciative of the things we have such as safety, convenience and comfort.
Thus, i’ve kept in mind what is it that i appreciate in Singapore when i went out to shoot for the final assignment. Hopefully, it will help me capture my thoughts about what i feel about life that is good in Singapore and that the audience can relate to them.
“I thought I would come to Singapore for two to three years maybe. Sixteen years later, I’m still here.” Tim , CEO DDB (View From The Top, a TV Works programme 9 Jul 2001) quote from getforme.com
- I hope that Singaporeans who leave for sixteen years, will eventually return home.
The Beggar Woman (a social documentary photo)
Source: picture taken by Aniz Fatema in Bangladesh, from www.treklens.com- a social documentary website.
Intended audience: this website basically holds all the photos by photojournalists who post what they see in their travels and leisure time. Members of this online community can critique and share their thoughts on each others’ photos.
My two cents worth
Fala and I came across many different photos of the poor and underprivileged when we finally stumbled upon this photograph. We found it different from most other photos of the poor because of the lack of distress in this one. More often then not, we see photos of the disabled and impoverished in a miserable state that causes the audience to develop a sense of pity and sadness for the subject and his/her situation.
However, we really like this photo because of the simplicity in composition. While the audience might still feel a sense pity towards her, it doesn’t create a sense of distress in us when we look at the photograph. For once, i’m able to say that a photojournalist has captured the ‘good side’ of a somewhat underprivileged society because the emphasis is on the old woman’s expression rather than her surroundings. Her expression, to me, conveys a sort of feeling as if she embraces her circumstances, her fate. And the strength and even serenity that comes through from her eyes shows that this is not always a bad thing.
One worry we had was that since the old lady is looking into the camera, it may prove that this photo may be somewhat composed and unnatural, defeating the true nature of a social documentary which is to capture things as they are. however, i believe that an effective social documentary photo should be about telling the audience what that subject is about and how he or she is feeling. And fortunately for this photo, inspite of the possibility that the photographer could have asked her to look into the camera etc, the audience is still able to draw their own conclusions from what the see in her expression.
Analysis
Focus:
- wide depth of field, hence everything in the frame is in focus.
- sharpness in photo creates the feeling of harshness of her surroundings, of her reality.
Framing:
- long shot captures some of the surroundings along with her. More meaning about her life and state of being can be understood with her surroundings captured as well.
Full Face Shot:
- exudes honesty in her feelings and expression.
Camera Angle:
- at first glance, looks like a stright shot, but actually, the camera angle is slightly tilted downwards. this creates a sense of sympathy from the audience as it depicts vulnerability for the old lady.
Colour:
- dull and lack of vibrancy adds to the rustic feel
Composition:
- leading lines from the bamboo leads our eyes from top to bottom of frame (absorbing every detail of the photo)
- the lady being the focal point in the frame adds symmetry, and with other elements in the photo (eg.sack, gravel, beaten up wall) creates a sense of balance to the composition. More pleasing to the eye and doesn’t create that disturbing and uneasy feeling.
How audience may view it through Piere’s Theory
Iconic: old, dusty, rustic place. old dirty sari. make-shift walking stick made of bamboo pole.
Indexical: surroundings show that she is in a life of hardships. her sari depicts she is in a certain Indian culture. make-shift walking stick further displays her impoverished state.
Symbolic: raises that issue of class disparity in Bangladesh. The poor really have little to call their own, living everyday as it comes. Her expression also symbolises a sense of resignation to her fate and embracing her underprivileged life.
This picture below is similar in the sense that the photgrapher has chosen to show us audience that those who are impoverished can be happy and lead meaningfu lives as well. While the impact may not be as strong as the next few photos (below), it reaches audiences in a different manner. It raises our awareness about less forunate societies beyond that of our own.
In comparison, most other photos of the underprivileged seem to be armed with the purpose of raising our awareness such that we are encoiuraged to do something more. The impact here is much greater as we feel more discomfort and unease.
Self-assessment
I would give Fala and myself 94/100 for this assignment ( 48/50 for analyis and 46/50 for execution). Even though we may not have chosen the most interesting of social documentary photos to comment, we felt that this one, which left a strong impression on us was worthy of analysis in comparison with other depressing photos.
We wanted to show that our photo, though subtle in nature and not as impactful equally aims to raise certain issues about the society.
I particularly enjoyed Paul and Meimei’s advertisement. They deserve full marks because of the amount of research and analysis that went into their presentation. I also thought that Ivy and Xuying’s photodocumentary was interesting and their comparison photos made me understand the impact of their chosen photo much better. They also get full marks from me.
This assignment is based on memories i wish i had. It was inspired by a conversation my grandma n dad had on old times at their kampong at Ponggol end, catching snakes, caring for their 101 animals, and of course, spending time there as a family there.
My granny has 9 children (4 girls, 5 boys, tt includes my dad). I am envious everytime my dad mentions of his childhood in this place where i have no recollection of. He fell into the well once when he was 7. He would step onto a snake in the darkness on the road back home, and come back with all my uncles to catch it. It makes me upset that i can’t be part of all that… even for just a while…
Creep. The people who made my granny sell the land for a miserable few thousand.
I dedicate these photographs to gong-gong… a great man i’ve never met…
Realism: Plainly, this is how the piece of land looks like from outside. Nothin much to it. 2 football fields worth of memories.
Formalism: I presented this in class. Clearly, it doesn’t fit. Someone mentioned it seems more like expressionism, like i’m only able to see this land through a fence, signifying a sort of emotional distance. But honestly, i don’t feel that way. I think this photograph was a mistake to begin with. Guess i just tried to fit a picture into Formalism for the sake of it. so “deh!” this one is out.
Try no. 2: Better? after looking at other pieces by classmates on Formalism, it seems tt Formalism should be abstract, and has no real meaning. Its value is in looking aesthetically good on its own. Or at least interesting. So, i’m not gonna say anythin about this piece. It quite obvious what it is, but i like the fact that it deceives ppl. If you think that i’m standing on the ground, you’re wrong. (tk a look at the entrance again. i’m standing on something). I’d like to name this, ‘I’m here.’
OK, decided to once again change my formalism photo. I’ve taken Mei Mei’s suggestion and tried to captured the form of the object, concentrating on the lines, and shapes in the composition.
Expressionism: This was the easiest! As this assignment happens to be very personal, alot of thought and emotion was evoked during the process. I hope viewers will notice what i’m trying to say with this photo. The emphasis is on the words ‘State’, ‘casual’ and ‘recreational’. It really makes me angry that what used to be my family’s home, is now used for casual recreational purposes?? Worse of all is that nobody has used this piece of ‘funland’ in this ulu place since the ampong were removed in the 1980s!
Thank you Ivy for your comments and the fact that you raised another interesting point. State Land or State Law? It wasn’t intentional to leave the ‘laND’ out of the photo, but it does prick certain parts of your conscience when it comes to political subjugation in Sg.
The irony of it all is that the govt tries so hard to preserve historical buildings, honour war heroes, etc etc, they couldn’t even leave people’s livelihood alone. Preserve what could still exist till today. It hurts i guess. To not rmbr a thing about this place. And to see my granny, dad, uncles and aunts live separately now.
Self Assessment:
After changing my Formalism photo, i’d give myself 90/100 (50 for creativity and 40 for effort). I got serious mosquitoes bites after spending an hour there! haha… dun worry wasn’t counted for in the effort marks. =)
I would give Ivy’s 100/100. I think she realy grasped the concepts well. I particularly like her Formalism photo and the angle which she took it from. The ‘triangle’ really does becomes visible after looking at it a few times. Its also simple and totally abstract from the Realism one. Kudos!
I also like Jillyn’s. I’d give her 99/100. maybe becos i think the formalism photo feels like expressionism to me.
I think its really funny how after class, i became even more confused about realism, formalism and expressionism. As much as we try to fit our photographs into the genre we think it seems to be, others may see it in a totally different light. And thats why i think those whose photographs clearly fit each genre, are the really good photographers. Its like with Ivy and Jillyn’s photos, they’re really clear-cut which belongs to which, and thats amazing!
Others like Mei Mei (Realism and Expressionism) and Qiyi’s (Formalism and your urban creep idea) are also very interesting. They get 84/100 (44 for creativity, 40 for effort)from me.
But i must say… this assignment really left me kinda jaded. haha.. i dunno why… maybe its knowing that even though i see and i shoot and i show it to others, i can’t change the fact that the kampong is gone. And we can’t change what the Creep does to us. Amen.
This is the scene in my room the day after a night out…when i leave a mess all over the place. For a week, didn’t know what i wanted to take to fit the theme. So when i saw this, i thought what the heck. haha…
Self Assessment: 60/100 (28 for creativity, 32 for effort)
I’m not really happy with this cos after tutorial, i realise i could do alot more if only i try to be more creative. The problem with this picture is that i can take it with one shot. So its nothing special i would say. I think i lack my personal input, and how i picture this scene to be, which is mesyness and clutter. in my mind i picture my clothing flying across the room, my shoes will be smaller (i hate my big feet).
I particularly like Mike and Ivy’s work. So i give them 100. I think both of them grasped the concept really well. For Ivy’s, i like it cos it reminds me of my time on that same beach looking up to planes flying by so closely. I can really sense the ‘overhead’ feeling she wanted to portray. And for Mike’s, i like the ‘bending’ feeling. Its really cool. technical-wise, i think its also difficult to take each shot at the correct angle so that it fits when he pieces them together to form the bend. nice.
In terms of effort, i must say Paul and Qiyi’s are tediously amazing! i tried one with a tree, and i must say its freakin tough! to make a tree keep its essence (leaves to fit n colours to match) ain’t easy. so good job guys!
Anyway, this isn’t the end of assignment 4. i’ll be back with a new piece ya. a lil more time after the projects (thanks mr reddy!!!!)
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