a little bit of everything // 2nd to 7th may 2011, seminyak, bali

walking around bali, we saw these banana leaf trays of flowers and little samplings of food pretty much everywhere. they are offerings made by the balinese twice a day.

i was fascinated with the variety of colours, food and flowers and the tiny portions reminded me of finger food served at cocktail receptions. it seemed to me like each square tray was a summary or a sample selection of whatever was cooking in the kitchen or fresh in the garden that day and perhaps quite telling of the family or person who had prepared that offering.

undue importance (work-in-progress//a series begins)

what happens when we accord something ordinary with undue importance?

light sparkling on the water surface,

a stray plastic bag aglow with the setting sun,

and perfectly embedded leds signalling the arrival of the train.

these are things we never quite pay attention to in our daily walks but yet are the very bits and pieces that form our everyday memories.

i begin to see in this series the unobvious things i am increasingly drawn to when i walk about with my camera.

nothing would break my heart more than this.

lately for some reason i have been thinking a lot, too much about mortality with regard to the people around me. and the phrase "nothing would break my heart more than -" has been making its rounds in my mind. so if i look at you with a frown that is a mix of distraction with a dash of disturbance, yup i might just be mentally counting down. it's really morbid i know, but maybe it's a season i am meant to go through before i come to terms with some things.

"nothing would break my heart more than . . . "
"nothing would make me happier than . . . "
"nothing means more to me than . . . "

these are really all about the same things, or the loss of them. some friends say that i seem rather hardy and adaptable but i find that it's probably also rather noticeable in my past and ongoing works that i don't deal with changes and loss very well. that might be why i choose to face these struggles and understand them and myself better through photography instead. sometimes this shows up even in my design work too.

whenever i find a line stuck in my mind as i do this moment, it usually ends up becoming the title of my next series but i'm afraid this time i don't think i will do it. words will hold my fears for now.

my faith leads me to believe in eternity. yet this same faith also includes the inevitable realisation that not everyone will partake in the good part of this eternity.

i just hope you know that nothing matters more to me than seeing you all in eternity.

我只希望你知道， 对我而言，没有任何东西比能够在永生时看到你们更重要。

hopes are selfish in a way.

The Photographers' Stories Redux // 1st to 29th March 2009 at the National Library

Exhibition
1st – 29th March 2009
Level 7 & 8 Promenades at the National Library Building

Official Opening!
Saturday 7th March 2009, 4pm
Level 7 Promenade at the National Library Building

Curator’s Walk
21st March 2009, 4 – 5 pm
Level 7 Promenade at the National Library Building

Since January 2009, 24 photographers have been exhibiting in various public libraries around the island. “The Photographers’ Stories” now culminates in this special group show spanning over the Level 7 & 8 Promenades of the National Library Building. Chris Yap, the curator, recreates new stories from the images, bringing with them new contexts to be perceived and admired. This show is also part of “circa”, a photography outreach programme that takes place biennially, for students aged 13 to 19 years old.




the little solo show that i had at pasir ris library is going to town!

it will be meeting up with the other 23 little solo shows and all 24 of our heartfelt solo stories will be brought together into one curated story in parts that unfold over the 7th and 8th levels of the national library building in town. be sure to check out both levels to catch the whole story!

yup, i know you can't read anything from those two panels so do come to the show to read - read the written stories and read the stories photographed.

enjoy! : ]

hope to see you on Saturday at the Opening then. 4pm on the 7th level hor!

好久没有这样哗啦哗啦的掉泪了。（勿担心，我不难过， 只是被电影影响而已！）

今天看了一部电影，又勾起了我对于 回忆，时间 和 人生 的一些启发和感动。

回家的路上我突然间又想起了某个痛处， 一边开车一边哗啦哗啦地哭了。而今早我又感到了摸名的灵感，带了朋友送我的手帕插在裤子旁边的口带。

原来是种预言，手帕真的派上了用场耶。

when i am happy i take photos. when i am sad i take photos. oddly enough, the photos quite often turn out happy when i am sad and sad when i am happy. whichever happens, the process and the outcome usually work together as a healing experience, making me really feel better as a result. photography heals.

摄影能疗伤。

在哗啦哗啦的当而， 我想起了数年前我也在回家的路途上感伤的事件，又想起了当时拍下的感觉，一到家后屏了命去寻找那一套画面， 在差一点放弃的时候然我找到了。感谢主，若我找不到我一定睡不安。

几个小时前，为了记念再一度感受到回家时感处累累的经历，我再红灯前停车时用手机拍的：


零六年四月雨天。
在巴士公车即将到终站相机的单眼陪着我的双眼一起漠糊时拍的：





刚刚发现：原来我在那个时候就开时倾向我近日常用的漠糊式摄影了。真奇妙！

其实我看电影也蛮容易被感动到哭的。mamma-mia 也可以把我弄哭，我真的是赢了咯，哈。 （可是今天看的当然不是 mamma-mia 啦。。）

现在终于可以平安入睡了。


。 。 。 哦，现在真的跟零六年的那一天一样－－－突然下起倾盆大雨了！


我得去关窗了！晚安！

days by the sea // 在海边吃风的日子。

i have always loved living near the sea/straits/coast and occasionally when quite far and quite away, the ocean.

坐在海边吹海风的感觉真爽。

The Photographers' Stories "I don't remember much about that holiday. Just you and me, and that beautiful dappled light."

i will be having a little solo show very soon.

it is titled,

"I don't remember much about that holiday.
Just you and me, and that beautiful dappled light."

and yes, it is part of the continuing chapters of the story that began in june while i was not far, but quite away.

it will be at pasir ris library.

you will be able to catch it from monday the 5th of january until friday the 16th of january 2009.

2009! already! anyways..

it is happening as part of The Photographers' Stories, a collective of 24 solo shows by 24 photographers who will take turns over the next 3 months to show at 12 public libraries around the island.

warmest thanks to everyone big and small who helped to make this possible.

if you have the time, please do travel east and have a look at and have a feel of the show. do let me know if you'd like me to go to the far far east with you. if i am able to, i will be happy to accompany you.


useful fun facts about pasir ris library:

1 Pasir Ris Central St 3
#04-01/06 White Sands
Singapore 518457
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sun : 11.00am - 9.00pm


useful fun facts about The Photographers' Stories:

do refer to the facebook group for the full schedule of all 24 photographers.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52920233360&ref=ts

thank you and see you!

window to a storm // 12.05pm

aish, as jane would say. hais, as i would say. may, may, come today.

unexpected rain // early early 11th april 2008.

there were sharper pictures in the set. but hey sharper pictures and feeling sianded about unexpected rain at seven in the morning were never quite the best of friends anyway...

kitchen stories // 12th august 2007 + 29th march 2008.

this is one of the first things i remembered seeing after getting home from being away in sweden for six months last year. i wanted to get a cup of water from the kitchen but was startled by this weird waving panda instead. my auntie had cut him out from a magazine and stuck him there to stop people from accidentally banging their heads against the sharp corner of a metal rack..



my auntie also has a practice of wrapping up all the vegetables and whateverthings in brown paper to supposedly help them keep better in the fridge. and she has this cool habit of sticking a leaf or some small characteristic part of the vegetable or whateverthing on the outside of the brown package so that she knows what is inside without having to unwrap to have a look. on one of my many late nights staying awake, i opened the fridge to check it out as part of my night time routine and was shocked to find these papers stuck outside two of the packages. i was like "wah!! aeroplanes!!" haha and then, "hrmm rocket lettuce??" and haha as i type now my auntie is scarily coincidentally unwrapping those two packages in front of me..and hrmm damn, no toy planes for me and not rocket lettuce either...just some regular cabbage or cabbage cousins.



on the same night/early morning, i leaned against the stove drinking my cup of water and was zoning out when i found myself staring at the floor, specifically staring at my old swimsuit from more than half my lifetime ago lying there on the floor. wah haha it is now the kitchen rag lor. really reduce reuse and recycle siah...though my inner designer quietly doubted the absorbency of an old swimsuit.

* * *

hrmm and kitchen stories is also one of my favourite little movies. i caught it at the film fest here some years back. it was a norwegian film about swedish researchers observing norwegian men in their kitchens so as to optimise their kitchen usage or something like that. and currently i forsee myself spending many late nights getting water and food in my kitchen really soon since our thesis is due at month's end. the calm has ended, let the storm begin!!! God be with us all no matter how things turn out. all the best!!

the rain after the sunshine // 24th march 2008.

big light in the sky. (somehow the word gloombloom comes to mind..)


even the guy in the tv also kenahs the rain in a moment of suspended reality.


the big light in the sky that moves.

i've always lived in the sky almost all of my life. and as long as i've had a tv, i always end up finding myself spending some time watching it reflected out there in the middle of nowhere. not sure why, but it's always been somewhat therapeutic. maybe i am a secret television addict who doesn't watch tv much otherwise.

cospolaroidexpensive

18th march 2008
this is part of many ongoing necessary personal projects spontaneously generated to momentarily distract ourselves from work. this was inspired after a dapow dinner at the aircon place cindy calls her lao di fang where we discussed how pigeon could take photo with his favourite photocopy shop auntie.... since polaroids are running out, we decided to turn to the most old school and most black and white of all neoprint machines. come to our studio gallery and add to the project! haha.

airshow

finally got to go after many years of wanting to go, thanks to an unexpected but most welcome 8.30am morning call amidst my zonkedoutness from the past week of hosting friends from abroad. much thanks to hun, her dad and his friends.