Ah! This is the life of a photographer. I got a call at 1115pm today and in an hour, I am down at the site where the job is to photograph tanks rolling onto an F1 track. To cut things short, I needed to document the process, get the shots in and get it on their desk asap. So not much photos that I can publish but I could probably show u this…
SAF Tanks at City Hall.
ah, hell… one more won’t hurt…
Twin Tanks
Ok. Like in all photos, I shall let it speak for itself… here’s the beginning of my 2010 works:
Jaime 2010 IntimaC
Jamie 2010 Psyche
Jamie 2010
Jamie 2010 Smiles
Jamie 2010 Akimbo Freedom
Jamie 2010 Happy Bunny
Nicholas 2010 Faded Smile
Should we all need to be inspired, should we all need a reason to live,
should we all need to breathe that first breath, should we all look for constant renewal.
have a look at this:
The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
There’s an exhibition that I am participating together with 3 other fellow local photographers. Just wanted to get some information out as to where, when, what, who of the exhibition.
Info:
Launch Date: 15th Jan 2010 @8pm
Address:
Muse Gallery
268 Upper Bukit Timah Rd
#03-09, Singapore 588210
Related Links:
Brought to you by:
Muse Gallery
Nicholas Foo
Leon Foo
Jamie Lewis
Excerpt from the Press Release:
In our fast paced urban world, we constantly seek spaces that bring us comfort and rest. We seek our very own “4walls”, our own spaces of comfort. But in a globalised world, our “4walls” are not constrained by time, country or language; we can find our solace anywhere in the world. Comfort can be found in the faces of children, in nature’s landscape, in street musicians, in flowers, in cafés…
Yet, do our “4walls” liberate us from urban pain or do they lock us in, locking others out? Are our “4walls” our liberation or our prison?
Summary:
this is going to be my summary of my year in photography. 2009… Wat a hell of a year…so let’s go!
The Videos:
Exactly 1 year ago: A wedding of a beautiful couple.
Part1/4
Part2/4
Part3/4
Part4/4
Next is my Play Series:
Spent 3 mths coming up with these conceptual shots of Singapore, so onto Feb2009
Part1/2 “Random”
Part2/2 “Colorful”
March2009, I came up with a “Tour Singapore” Series
Transition Part1
Imagination Part2
Crossroads Part3
“Serieux” Series.
On March28, I released an architecture piece named “Square”
And then a video about a student in Singapore
“Street Photography” Series.
and an international collaboration of 6 photographers with the help of Twitter.
“My Works” Series
showcasing what I do…
and I have an exhibit on Orchard Road…
Now tat’s for videos on YouTube. Next on… my photography stills:
2009
Night Aerial Photography (Helicopter photography)
Victoria Theater Heritage Shoot for STB
last but not least, a tour of West Malaysia
I am missing a Christmas 2009 for STB shoot that is still unpublished, will do that once I am done with it.
So I suppose that’s 2009… now let’s bring on 2010! Happy New Year everyone!
Every end of the year, I end up with a bit of time to myself and I set about rediscovering and experiment artistically. And what do I do? I run into the theatres and spend sometime there watching latest movies. Always good to watch movie and see what is happening around the world.
The first one last week was Avatar, which I think went down pretty well… in the kind of “Final Fantasy” kinda way and today, I watched Sherlock Holmes, (trailer included in this post)
Oddly, and I am just shooting this off my head, I saw artistic stuff in there that reflected my own kind of works this year, in terms of colors, textures and even the black and white treatment you see at the end of the credits. hmm… I shall sleep over it and digest all this… am I doing this right? and where am I to go towards next year? lots more rediscovering to do…and somehow, I think I know what I want to do… let’s see how good your observations are on my moves…my dear Watson…
James Cameron asked for a new technology for 3D images and what you get is a totally new camera system. Here’s a youtube video to explain the technology:
And this is a challenge to both Nikon and Canon, let’s develop an affordable camera that is based on this technology and we can have 3D on our computer monitors, and also on print. Another way to look at this world, another technology to earn billions from. So why not?
I was asked to participate in an exhibition for a gallery, mainly a charity event and also to get the New Year off to a good start for some kids out there.
But the trick is, I am only allowed a small budget to spend, and only with a time of 3 days to get my works together. The good thing is, I am doing this with 3 other local photographers and I only need to come up with 5-7 photos to be printed, mounted and delivered. Not too difficult you might think, until I sat down wondering about the theme.
My-4-walls.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196411119074&ref=share
I have spent most of this year working for events, weddings and whatever photographic works that came by and suddenly realized that I haven’t much material to come up with for an exhibition. So going out of the way to cast a theme and set about producing works within 3 days would have just been impossible and more importantly, costly. So I dug in through some of my works that I shelved when I was working and sat down going about an exhibit.
So here’s what I learnt:
1) Get a team together.
Delegate workload to other people. It is difficult to focus on your photography pieces if you have to worry about other things like getting printers, lighting, decorations, caterers, etc. Your main aim is to make sure your photos are top notch for the exhibition. The rest, teamwork.
2) Sit down and think of what you want people to see.
By far the most time consuming for me, figuring out the “me” that I would like to portray was the toughest bit for me. Thoughts that ran through my mind always came to: would I be putting the right message across. Is the works I chose representing me and what I am. Would I be too bothered ten years down the road when I look back and think these works weren’t the right choice.
I believe being a photographer, and to a certain sense, an artist, we have a responsibility to affect people in the way we would like them to be affected. My piece of work should stand for a reason, otherwise, I choose not to bring into existence those works that is in my hands. After saying such, an art piece which takes a well regarded amount of space and time interacting with us is only worth considering if it brought about changes to our state of mind and thought outcomes. And that is where I spent a lot of my time. Giving birth is not a matter of just, it is a matter of why.
So think hard of what effect you are looking for, and would the selection fall into that criteria. Usually, I sleep on it for a night and if I have no nightmares over my selection, I think I pretty much got it right.
3) Be Happy
I have seen too many angry people when they start working on a project and what could have been something great turns out not much so with all the angst. Stay happy and be glad you are creating. This affects the mood of people around you and also the way the exhibit is curated. You must be wondering, how does this connect to an exhibition. Well, it is quite simple. An exhibition is a display of not only your works, but a representation of yourself. Your freedom to express and your vibes are in your work, starting from selection, to the whole creative process of setting up the exhibit by the curator. The curator feeds off your emotions and goes about setting up the gallery trying to represent you. And this means your viewers will be in direct contact with your emotions within the exhibit. Generally, vibes can be felt in an exhibition if the artist permeates those vibes.
4) Your Curator, Your Twin Self
Have a good talk to your curator. Sit down and brainstorm over what is your artistic views. Unless your curator is your best friend, chances are, they will have no inkling as to what you would be like and how they should go about presenting your works. A good way is to start saying things that affect you, keywords like love, freedom, art, anger, earth, life, existence, should start you off on the right track. Make sure your works are also familiar to the curator and how you feel about your work. That takes a lot of anxiety out from you when u get a viewing and people start asking you questions, your curator will be able to help you out when it gets too overwhelming.
5) Know wat to say.
An exhibit is a very important exercise of expressing your works in words. Your viewers would like to know what went through your mind, or stories to the works. And they won’t stand there figuring it out, they’ll ask you right out. You definitely don’t need a script but do have a good thought over how to express yourself as an artist. More often than not, a picture speaks a thousand words, but your gallery needs a hundred more just to make sure they understand it. Be honest about your intentions and believe in yourself. Your works does the rest.
6) Have fun!
An exhibit is when you are done with all the nitty gritty work. Now sit back and have a look at your creation. It is all about learning, and taking in the moment. I don’t have to tell you how to have fun now do I? Go on… get an exhibit up!
“Because of styles, people are separated. They are not united because styles became law. But the original founder of the style started out with hypothesis-but now it has become the gospel truth”-Bruce Lee
Have a look at this video, narrated by Bruce Lee and his ideas behind his art form.
Suddenly, what he says makes sense. We shall not follow a style in photography, but more of an hypothesis and be a founder of our own path. We should be like water…
“Here I am, as a human being, how can I express myself?”-Bruce Lee
Ride by Wong Kin Leong
-Ride.
a stark rider, asian origin sets off in motion a still photo with a hint of a richly tactile background. the darkness enveloping him shows the uncertainty and malice, and his hidden face shows no emotions, making this a compelling photo of dubiety.
But yet, light on his back shows that there is hope towards where the rider is going, lighting his path and not too disturbed by his present self. There is hope in days to come, and the present is only a state of mind.
This Photo-
Here’s to no processing RAW photos onto jpeg. And just plain camera technique. Shouldn’t be too difficult to realize that I have been gone from photography for a holiday and I have been refining my camera techniques. Well, I am back. 😀 This photo is the result of my last few months of work and dreaming, prepping for next year and a different look to my photography. Hopefully, more serious and yet, entertaining side to my works. I hope you enjoy my next year in photography. Thank you for being around, you know who you are. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year guys!
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