Assignment 3: ChangeYou live in a country where the the only thing constant is change.
Create a 8-12 picture photo-essay on the above theme.
Select an appropriate point of view which addresses the theme; for example:
- Economic change and human condition
- Age relations and rat-race
- Geography and Time
- Cultural Invasion
Objectives:
To develop control over image creation process.
To explore different styles and develop observation skills.
I initially wanted to explore the topic with eight individuals from all walks of life dressed in something characteristic of them and have them posed as though there were changing out of their clothes, shoes, appearance. It could be a businessman, an air-stewardess, a cleaner or changing out of their clothes. One might interpret this idea as an attempt to portray the annoyance of singaporeans with the routine/mundane singapore lifestyle.
I dropped this idea in the end as i couldn't get sufficient models in time. besides, i'd require damn good lighting (studio kind) to do some nice portrait shots.
I then attempted the topic via another route...
Singapore is a country where nothing is permanent;
it's not surprising if you don't recognise the landscape
two decades ago as skyscrapers and land is constantly developed.
However, Singapore is also trying very hard to preserve its heritage and traditions.
Hence, the shop-house building conservation scheme, Kampong Glam and Chinatown Heritage Centre...etc.
For this assignment, i wanted to capture how despite the 21st century advances, we're also trying to 'stop' change or rather, preserve a state/past.
1. conservation of shophouses (as mentioned earlier)
2. an old school, dusty door (check out the round metal handle;
characteristic of ancient doors)
3. a dying trade
(a craftsman's tools in making red clogs-keychains)
4. the dying trade of (life-size) clog-making
5. a push-cart stall
6. trishaws which were a form of transport in the past
are now being used as a tourist gimmick
7. despite the advent of electronic lanterns,
children are taught the traditional way of lantern-making in celebration of the
Mid-Autumn Festival
8. the ever-changing shape of wax
contained in the traditional cellophane lantern
While the rest of the class tried to portray change through objects/humans,
i wanted to challenge the theme and explored how we might resist change
through heritage and tradition.
For picture #3, I thought I could have better expressed my point of view i
f I had included a pair of the red-clogs-keychain in the foreground.
I received comments from my previous assignment that my shots tend
to be a little too far and I could afford to get a little closer to take tighter shots.
I tried to improve on that and found that it indeed made the picture more intriguing.
I liked
Ivy's and
Steph's interpretation of this assignment best this week.
For Ivy's, I liked how she had a really strong concept and how well she encapsulated
what she wanted to say in a poem. Coincidentally as Reddy pointed out,
her pictures had this nice 'wave' thing going on when she presented them in a row.
Aesthetically, Steph did really well in taking macro shots of the degeneration
and rust of objects. I'd give both of them
95 and mine a
85!
Other pics not presented:
1. conservation of shophouses (as mentioned earlier)
2. an old school, dusty door (check out the round metal handle;
3. a dying trade
4. the dying trade of (life-size) clog-making
5. a push-cart stall
6. trishaws which were a form of transport in the past
7. despite the advent of electronic lanterns,
8. the ever-changing shape of wax
