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.
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).
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...
March 2013
1 post
February 2013
1 post
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...
“Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing...”
– GARRY WINOGRAND. My hero.
3 tags
2 tags
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...
“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...
“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.
December 2012
4 posts
1 tag
5 tags
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...
2 tags
“You need a Leica if you’re going to shoot real life and happiness....”
– Nobuyoshi Araki
November 2012
1 post
3 tags
October 2012
1 post
7 tags
September 2012
12 posts
2 tags
6 tags
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...
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. ...
2 tags
“Amateurs worry about equipment; Professionals worry about money; Masters worry...”
2 tags
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...
3 tags
“Photographers mistake the emotion they feel while taking the picture as judgment...”
– GARRY WINOGRAND
2 tags
1 tag
“it will always be that photographers are showing people what they are missing on...”
– yours truly
3 tags
August 2012
5 posts
3 tags
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...
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
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
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...
July 2012
4 posts
3 tags
3 tags
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...
4 tags
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...
3 tags
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.
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...
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...
4 tags
3 tags
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...
3 tags
“Every man’s work is always a portrait of himself.”
– ANSEL ADAMS 