May 2013
1 post
2 tags
“Mr. Winogrand had no patience for the phony sympathies he thought connected too...”
– Gary Winogrand - Nonstop and Unedited - I truly agree with Winogrand on this one.  I love the act of taking photographs, maybe far more so than whatever comes out of the camera.  I guess this is why I can keep my rolls undeveloped for a long time.
May 13th
1 note
April 2013
2 posts
3 tags
“are you an active or passive participant in your own manifestation of...”
– a bunch of SG-based streettogs have a deep conversation sparked off from Alec Soth’s Eggleston question, and this is the most distilled, important point I can make as a result of that discussion (which I’ll post up soon).
Apr 27th
2 notes
4 tags
Little Brown Miscellanea: The Eggleston Question →
littlebrownmushroom: Alec Soth: A few years ago Robert Frank said, “There are too many images, too many cameras now. We’re all being watched. It gets sillier and sillier. As if all action is meaningful. Nothing is really all that special. It’s just life. If all moments are recorded, then nothing is beautiful and maybe photography isn’t an art any more. Maybe it never was.” What do you think...
Apr 27th
116 notes
March 2013
1 post
Mar 27th
1,011 notes
February 2013
1 post
Feb 19th
849 notes
January 2013
7 posts
3 tags
STREET PORTRAITIST: On da block - Part 3 →
streetportrait: Da block I live on is kinda interesting. I remember going outside of my house a few times and seeing a few ladies running. I watched for a while and they were actually running laps around the building for exercise. I also noticed that there is an old guy with a walking stick doing the same… If you’ve never heard of the Street Portraitist before, now’s the...
Jan 15th
16 notes
“Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing...”
– GARRY WINOGRAND.  My hero.
Jan 14th
7 notes
3 tags
Jan 6th
5 notes
2 tags
Jan 4th
351 notes
2 tags
“I have a lot of respect for people who work in daily journalism, and local news...”
– Jonas Bendiksen, who started working for a small town newspaper with a circulation of 8,000.  via Wired.com (via photographsonthebrain) This is a good reminder for me to continue seeking the magic of Singapore for my photography project on it.  I find it much easier to take street photographs of...
Jan 4th
27 notes
“Because our digital photographs are inherently social objects, and because...”
– Iterations: It’s Early Innings For Digital Pictures | TechCrunch (via photographsonthebrain) I’m very into thinking about the academic and theoretical developments of photography, that has nothing to do with the photographer or even the camera.  It is amazing to know that something as simple...
Jan 1st
41 notes
“And that, I believe, is what has happened over the past few years: The act of...”
– JM Colberg (via photographsonthebrain) Indeed, photography is as ubiquitous to social interactions as shaking hands.  This is an advantage to the medium, anyway you cut it.
Jan 1st
77 notes
December 2012
4 posts
1 tag
Dec 30th
343 notes
5 tags
Dec 23rd
5 notes
3 tags
My hometown, Malacca
It is finally done.  10 months in the making, the photo documentary of my hometown, Malacca.  Every Chinese New Year, the entire Chia family returns there to hang with my last surviving grandma.  And every year, I love the place, the nostalgia and historic remnants at odds with the modernity laid out before it.   In any case, even if things were to change, these photos will always stay the...
Dec 16th
1 note
2 tags
“You need a Leica if you’re going to shoot real life and happiness....”
– Nobuyoshi Araki
Dec 13th
8 notes
November 2012
1 post
3 tags
Nov 12th
1 note
October 2012
1 post
7 tags
Oct 14th
29 notes
September 2012
12 posts
2 tags
Sep 25th
36 notes
6 tags
Sep 23rd
6 notes
5 tags
Shibuya, by Nguan →
Nguan’s photography work is seriously solid stuff.  There’s a strong sense of a style even as “normal” as his images look.  They are certainly anything but, and demands a closer viewing.  Love his sensitivity to color too. I am definitely picking up Shibuya, by Nguan at the upcoming IPA Singapore Photo Books Day.  That’s going to be an exciting event too - a...
Sep 20th
5 notes
3 tags
Random Encounters by 5ive Foot Way officially...
There is really nothing quite like seeing your work up on a wall, blown up to a beautiful size.  Before the exhibition began, I was perfectly content to share my work on the Internet.  But now that I’ve seen what they look like stuck to a wall, to be viewed at from arm’s length, it’s an amazing feeling.  That’s your blood, sweat, and tears there in physical form. ...
Sep 19th
4 notes
2 tags
“Amateurs worry about equipment; Professionals worry about money; Masters worry...”
Sep 17th
3 notes
2 tags
Sep 11th
28 notes
Sep 11th
79 notes
3 tags
On Photography as of Late, by John Sypal
John wrote an amazing piece about his thoughts after someone questioned his photography process, the most important questions being:  in an age of color and digital photography, why is he still shooting in black and white?  why is he still shooting in film? At his office I was chided in limiting myself as an artist by not working more digitally, in color, and that with all mypictures he warned...
Sep 9th
4 notes
3 tags
“Photographers mistake the emotion they feel while taking the picture as judgment...”
– GARRY WINOGRAND
Sep 8th
14 notes
2 tags
Sep 6th
4 notes
1 tag
“it will always be that photographers are showing people what they are missing on...”
– yours truly
Sep 4th
2 notes
3 tags
Sep 1st
3 notes
August 2012
5 posts
3 tags
Aug 27th
2 notes
2 tags
the magic of film photography
I still get amazed even now, one year on, when I develop my photographs.  The images that appear through some sheer chemical magic.  Garry Winogrand had this to say, and I agree 100%: No, the process, really. I really liked—it was a very crazy thing to me, I mean, this business of being uncertain that it would come out. I still enjoy—I still don’t understand why when you put a piece of paper in...
Aug 20th
6 notes
3 tags
“when a photograph is interesting, it’s interesting because of the kind of...”
– GARRY WINOGRAND, Monkeys make the problem more difficult - An Interview, here
Aug 20th
1 note
3 tags
“Hesitation is one of the things that kills most potentially great street...”
– ERIC KIM, in 10 Things Garry Winogrand can teach you about photography here
Aug 20th
8 notes
4 tags
UPCOMING EXHIBITION: Random Encounters by 5ive...
I’m proud to officially announce the debut exhibition of the photography collective 5ive Foot Way.  As I am part of that collective, 5 of my works will be up on display at The Pigeonhole from the 4th - 18th September.  I’ve only been at this photography thing for over a year now.  While I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far, I’m more excited for the long...
Aug 2nd
July 2012
4 posts
3 tags
Jul 23rd
33 notes
3 tags
Jul 9th
150 notes
2 tags
traveling ethic
The time I spent alone in Taiwan, I could wander around as much as I’d like, no real goal in sight, and take as much time as I needed to, getting from A to B.  I’m not a shopping kinda’ person nor a foodie.  So I’m not distracted by wanting to buy shit or put food in my mouth.  I am happy to eat at odd hours or just buying a sandwich from a convenience store if it means I...
Jul 8th
2 notes
4 tags
Jul 4th
2 notes
June 2012
2 posts
3 tags
the nature of photographs
I’ve been reading and rereading The Nature of Photographs by Stephen Shore, and I have to say it is one of the most illuminating things I’ve read about photography.  It was recommended to me by John Sypal, to whom I am eternally grateful. In this book, Shore strips photography down in the most literal examination; a photograph is “a base of paper, plastic, or metal that has...
Jun 24th
10 notes
3 tags
Jun 14th
1,333 notes
May 2012
1 post
Be Right Back
Hey guys, just want to send a shout out apologizing for my lengthy inactivity.  I’m feeling some spiritual crappiness with regards to my art right now.  It sounds like bullshit, because it is. But I should return to regular programming soon.
May 16th
April 2012
8 posts
6 tags
What I think about when I think about video games...
Eric Kim, street photographer and all-around cool guy blogger, asked me recently to do a write-up on his magic sparkles and unicorn website about how video games can help make you a better street photographer. Click here to read said article.  I’ve also got photos from my “Tokyo wo Kanjiru” series featured there. Thanks Eric for the opportunity to do the write-up.  Had much...
Apr 30th
2 notes
7 tags
Inspirational Read of the Day - The Surrealist...
I love starting the morning reading something inspirational, something that’ll get me revved up to go out and take some photos or write some words.  This is probably one of the best articles I’ve ever read on art, and I urge you all to read it. Adam Marelli writes of Cartier-Bresson and how his photography is very much in line with the Surrealism movement of artists long before...
Apr 24th
1 note
4 tags
Apr 17th
8 notes
3 tags
Apr 4th
12 notes
Apr 2nd
185 notes
Apr 2nd
109 notes
4 tags
Inspirational video of the day - William Eggleston
I must admit that since I began photography, my knowledge of Eggleston and his photographs was minimal.  This is most likely because he isn’t a street photographer in the strictest sense of the word (although he worked largely in the streets).  Nevertheless, watching a great documentary on a great photographer is always a great learning process. Most important lesson I took away was how...
Apr 1st
6 notes
3 tags
“Every man’s work is always a portrait of himself.”
– ANSEL ADAMS
Apr 1st
6 notes