P.S. Teo Protraits Exhibition

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A must see retrospective exhibition of works spanning 50 years
by Teo Poh Seng.

P.S. Teo took portraits of people from all walks of life. His works
include portraits of distinguished personalities such as the

1. British Governor Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode
2. Dr. David S. Marshall
3. Presidents Benjamin Henry Sheares
4. C.V. Devan Nair
5. Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew
6. Tunku Abdul Rahman
7. Sir Runne Shaw
8. Dr. C.A. Gibson Hill and many others.

In 1955 he had three portraits exhibited in the Institute of British
Photographers' Exhibition of Professional Photography at the
R.B.A. Galleries, London.

In1956 P.S. Teo was awarded the Associateship of the Institute
of British Photographers, making him the second Singaporean to
receive the honour.

In 1957, he became an Associate of the Royal Photographic
Society of Great Britian, and the following year, a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Arts.

Time: 5th - 31st May 2007

Place: Studio Deluxe, 17C Lorong Liput (Holland Village)

Website: www.dlrgallery.com

"The Teo family organised this exhibition of his works out of
profound love and admiration for him. It is a fitting tribute
to a modest man who was Chief Photograher of Studio Deluxe
and distinguished artist-photographer of his day".
- Yeow Seng & Eng Seng

"We hope it will raise the profile of photography as an important
art form" - Kheng Seng

Note: dlr gallery at 17C Lorong Liput in Holland Village is
just four shops away from Food Junction and across Holland
Village Food Court.

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This exhibition is a showcase of Mr. P.S. Teo's
selected works from 1949 to 2005. His studio portraits
were all taken with a 5" x 7" studio camera with continuous lights.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :heart:

 

[Ansel]

Looks like lots of treats for the photo enthusiast this month! Don't forget Ken Seet's at Vivocity too.

 

[hana20momo]

went to e exhibitn this aftnn. amazed by the black and white portraits that are older than myself! e lady (e person on duty) was very willing to explain each portrait's background and the sitter. try to go and have a look!!!!

 

[forward]

went to e exhibitn this aftnn. amazed by the black and white portraits that are older than myself! e lady (e person on duty) was very willing to explain each portrait's background and the sitter. try to go and have a look!!!!

A rare treat indeed from members of the Teo's family.
Did you see the big studio 5x7 view camera that was used to
take the portraits?

The exhibition time is from: 12noon to 8pm till 31st May, 2007.

 

[hana20momo]

A rare treat indeed from members of the Teo's family.
Did you see the big studio 5x7 view camera that was used to
take the portraits?

The exhibition time is from: 12noon to 8pm till 31st May, 2007.

e ppl there r very friendly n nice to young shutterbugs..
e lady spotted me looking at e fotos outside, walked out to invite me in.
n even switched on every lights (when i was e only visitor)

Yep! saw e view cam. nv seen it soooo upclose n well used b4.
e lady said it might b e only 1 left in sg.. n e museum approached them..
hope such gd stuff wld land in gd hands... (pray pray)

going back on sunday wif my frenes..
cos spent 1hr there todae bt din finish looking thru every foto..

 

[Ansel]

Rushed there today lunch as it will be my last chance to see these.

It is one of the best 45mins I have ever spent. All must go have a look and see what real BW prints really look like!

To Singaporeans, there are many national treasures on display, such as the portrait of the late president Dr Sheares and Mrs Sheares taken in 1948!! I have never seen them looking this way!

Once the show is over after 31st May, the prints will most likely go into cold storage and you may never see them again!

Entrance is free, so you have nothing to lose! The free brochure booklet that I was given was in itself a beautiful piece of art!

 

[centurion_sg]

Just spent over an hour visiting the exhibition, slightly exceed my lunch hour :sweat:

Was met by a nice uncle, Mr. Teo (PS Teo's brother). PS Teo passed away 2 yrs ago and this exhibition was fully paid by the family to honour his name and also as a farewell gift to the public before they close down the shop. They are moving to Katong but will no longer deal with commercial photography and instead focus on art work pieces. The negatives and prints will be donated to the national museum for archiving.

Mr. Teo described how pressurizing it was to get dignitaries and powerful people to pose in those days because they had to stay frozen for the long exposure shots and the photographer had to direct these VIPs to pose. It also took a lot of time and skill to touch up the prints through a deft hand. More stress came later when it was time to show the prints to the clients for review and selection.

The yellowed prints are originals made by PS Teo, and the newer ones were made by Mr. Teo himself. He lamented that the good Kodak papers used by PS Teo could no longer be found as he had tried hunting them down overseas. He highlighted that one of the prints (a girl smiling facing right) was made on special paper based on chamois fiber that made it very lasting.

Mr. Teo himself is into nature photography and continues to pursue this in his travels as a leisure activity since his retirement. He shared some large prints of photos made when he was younger, especially one showing barren trees lining a sea shore, which was shot on St. John's island where he used to lead his men for training. He also shared some pointers on street photography which I was getting interested with. He encourages people to join professional bodies and build the hobby into something that could be a livelihood in future. Overall it was a fruitful learning experience :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[hongsien]

Will go today! Part of Singapore's history!

 

[chiif]

Today, last day of the exhibition... spent about 2 hours there, talking to the Teo brother & sister.

It's indeed good to see old photographs of Singapore in private collection. Nowadays, it's not easy to find exhibits of old Singapore from private collection on display. The Teo family came out few thousand dollars, just to produce the brochures and they do not even make a single cent out from it. Not much publicity is given to this excellent exhibition which holds the treasures of Singapore.

I particularily like the portrait of Mr Lee Kuan Yew taken in 1957. His eyes was full of power and energy. No wonder he brought Singapore out of British colony rule and to what we are today. That picture itself will be a national treasure in time to come.

Heard from Mr Teo Eng Seng(P S Teo's brother), that the DLR gallery will be moving to 22 Marshall Road and should be ready next year. Let's hope they will find a place to preserved these national treasures and we will get to see them again....

 

[Aim]

Today, last day of the exhibition... spent about 2 hours there, talking to the Teo brother & sister.

It's indeed good to see old photographs of Singapore in private collection. Nowadays, it's not easy to find exhibits of old Singapore from private collection on display. The Teo family came out few thousand dollars, just to produce the brochures and they do not even make a single cent out from it. Not much publicity is given to this excellent exhibition which holds the treasures of Singapore.

I particularily like the portrait of Mr Lee Kuan Yew taken in 1957. His eyes was full of power and energy. No wonder he brought Singapore out of British colony rule and to what we are today. That picture itself will be a national treasure in time to come.

Heard from Mr Teo Eng Seng(P S Teo's brother), that the DLR gallery will be moving to 22 Marshall Road and should be ready next year. Let's hope they will find a place to preserved these national treasures and we will get to see them again....

I think I was the last local to visit the exhibition. I came in around 4pm and guess you were the gentleman talking to Teo Eng Seng. The hospitality was warm, his sisters and niece showed me round, though I was in a pair of bermudas, and pointed to me PS Teo's favourite portraits.

PS Teo was indeed a great black and white portraiture photographer capturing great men from the colonial times, through our pioneers like David Marshall, E. W. Baker, MM Lee, Hon Siu Sen, President Sheares, even the wedding portrait of Dato Loke Wan Tho. The list goes on and on. Those who didn't make will have a chance when the new gallery opens next year.

 

[Keltzar]

Maybe some of the prints should be scanned and put into low res and go online as an online display?
I was travelling the last 3 weeks... pity I missed the exhibition.