"Heartlands" PHOTO EXHIBITION
Venue: Yew Tee Community Club, 4th storey
Period of exhibition: 15 November - 23 November 2003
Time: Weekdays 11 am to 9.30 pm, Weekends 10 am to 9.30 pm
For more information: Pls call Yew Tee CC at 67693672 between 9 am to 10 pm
Admission: Free!
Nothing to photograph in Singapore?
Take a step back and let five up-and-coming photographers show you otherwise.
Transforming ordinary items found at, and close to home, to works of art, Heartlands - the photographic exhibition - will make you take a second look at the things around you.
See for yourself a diversity of photographic techniques that will amaze you. From traditional black and white photographs, conventional toning and hand-colouring techniques, 'primitive' pin-hole camera photography, to modern digitally manipulated photos - there's always something surprising 'round the corner.
See Singapore heartlands differently through the eyes of these photographers, and discover something new yourself too.
About the Photographers
Greg Choong rediscovered Singapore when he started doing Singapore street photography a few years back. Many day-to-day mundane and simple things became interesting shots through his lenses. Greg's "People and Their Song Birds" series started in 2001 when he first shot the renowned Tiong Bahru Bird Arena. It has been his ongoing project until today and he has covered many arenas in many heartlands to date. It's not the songbirds that fascinate him, but the people surrounding them - the owners, friends, songbird judges, and tourists alike. This very popular Singaporean past time especially on weekend mornings is a great way to relax and make friends. His candid street photography style always carries the charm in portraying Singaporean in a leisurely but unique way. Greg shoots exclusively in B&W and does his own developing and printing traditionally.
[i]www.gregchoongphotography.com[/i]
Jason Ho Ever sat in solitary silence and immersed yourself in another world, another realm, another dimension oblivious to the surroundings? Welcome to the world of Jason Ho. His dark imagination and grim visual imagery thirty years of life with his shadow as his only company put down on print. Dismissing the traditional atheistic boundaries and not abiding of pre-formed rules of photography, his deviant mind has spawned a host of digital surrealistic images. Escapism: an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy. His photography is his route to Escapism, his self-expression, and not ordained by his desire to impose upon reality an amount of reel life. Jason's style of photography reflects deeply his single inspiration in his life loneliness. Each image Jason composes speaks, imprinting on itself his mind and his thoughts, together with the journey he embarks on in search of perfection. Jason will be presenting his works on Digital Manipulated Photography.
[i]www.ezcapizm.com[/i]
Justin Low is the youngest of the exhibiting photographers at 18 years of age. Currently pursuing a
Diploma in Visual Communications at Temasek Polytechnic, he spends his spare time capturing the different facades of the ordinary person on the street. While many his age are dabbling with digital cameras, Justin has found his calling in the
traditional black and white medium, only just getting more and more fascinated with developing his own prints, and controlling the entire process of how his photos will turn out. He shows a talent and passion for street and candid photography, and aims to hone this craft. Justin will be showcasing his street and candid works captured at your ordinary markets and hawker centres. Take a closer look at the 'uncle' and 'auntie' at your favourite fish stall as Justin
attempts to capture them in their essence, immortalising them perhaps to somebody different? Look out also for the 'flavour' of these traditional markets and hawkers centres, and the people who go there, and 'experience' for yourself interesting
frozen moments of time.
[i]www.justinlow.com[/i]
Osman bin Ali - Everything is beautiful in its own right as every person is beautiful in his and her own self. That's the philosophy that Osman holds to. He sees beyond physical beauty yet portrays his subjects beautifully in his images adding a touch of surrealism, imagination and experimentation. Osman developed an interest in fine art photography after he started experimenting with the traditional Black & White medium. With initial guidance from books and discussions with fellow photographers he picked up the pieces and started to discover the magic the medium was able to provide. He broke conventional rules, made a lot of mistakes, and discovered new working methods to fulfill his needs to create the final print.
His love for this medium is so strong that all his personal works are done in B&W extending to beyond monochrome, including hand colouring techniques. Current personal works involves projecting the beauty of any subject he shoots, conveying the
unnoticed interaction with its environment, sometimes as a representation of an idea, belief, understanding and thought. His experimentation includes emotional reflection on ideals and ideas, testing limitations of craft, using photography as an expressive tool, not just a documentary one. For the upcoming exhibition, Osman projects the simplicity and beauty of food and
fruits commonly found in our kitchen. Using some representational analogy, he tries to link the similarities found in relationships in humans. Fruits in a bunch are not at all identical, just like siblings.
[i]www.appa2.com[/i]
Robert Tay always believes that to be conventional is to follow faithfully, but to be unconventional is to break through one's obstacles, especially in the realm of photography. He believes that nothing beats having the eye spot good pictures, unlimited by traditional means and methods. Robert has established his likings of shooting through pinhole
cameras, as well as many other mediums infrequently touched by others. Robert keenly shares each experimented idea with others and in return, learns from other's experiences. His images present the utmost raw feeling of the subjects and their
background, and it is through his sheer determination to get it right the first time that he is able to present them so. In this series, Robert explores Singapore cityscapes using the minimalistic pinhole camera to render familiar places unusual. Take a second look as Robert takes you around HDB towns through the 'eyes' of an ordinary-tin-turned-camera.
[i]www.simidaiji.com[/i]
Directions to get to the CC:
1. Take feeder bus (No. 302) from Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange, alight after you see the CC on your right.
2. Take a train and alight at Yew Tee MRT station. Turn left on exit, and walk about 10 minutes from the station to the CC.
