Organic Eyes

Assignment 7 : In-dependence (Stage 3)

2007-11-24T16:31:00.000+08:00

For the photo of the granny's hands, I found this place in kampong bahru when my dad drove past. I really like the nice blue windows and the interesting pinkish purple flowers so I thought I could try taking my granny hands at this place. I like the look and ambience of this place a lot. My dad said that my great grandfather used to live around this area. I thought the surrounding gives a nostaligic mood to the photo. Other than taking the hands, I wanted to capture a peaceful mood. Hopefully when people sees the photo, they can visualize an old lady living in this surrounding. Of all the shots, these 2 were my favourite.

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I had some comments to improve, maybe to desaturate the flowers so that they wouldn't look so pink and distract the attention away from the hands. I agree that the pink flower stands out in the picture as well. So I tried changing the saturation. But after doing so I thought the photo doesn't contain a certain essence which I wish to portray. Mr Reddy's said the pink flowers might be attention grabbing at the first glance but its presence provides some balance for the photo as well. I decided to keep it as it is. On a side note, I realize that sometimes when I play around with photoshop, I come to a point when I lose my judgment about my photo and get very confused over what I want. Guess its something I will learn more along the way. Anyway, I appreciate all comments given! :)

Assignment 7 : In-dependence (Stage 2)

2007-11-24T15:00:00.000+08:00

After thinking about sense of comfort and how I could go about taking the photos in the Singapore context, I decided on 4D after more clarifications from Mr Reddy. In Singapore, 4D is quite prominent and even some young people engage in the activity. I think many people see it as a form of leisure and there are different sorts of dependence in this case.

-----------------------Distress'-----------------------

For someone who engages in 4D buying and depend on it to strike it rich, it has a tendency to become an addiction and as time passes, the level of distress increases when he or she doesn't win. For this photo, the 4D tickets are like fallen leaves and the unfeeling concrete floor doesn't provide any consolotion to the person in distress.

-----------------------Hope'-----------------------

Many of the older generation do not hanker after wealth desperately. Rather, buying 4D is something they have done for decades and when they reach old age, it is a different dependence. Buying it gives them a sense of comfort and hope. It is an anticipation that they get out of it. If they don't buy it for a week, they would feel some discomfort. Not because they are worried that they wouldn't win, but because there is nothing for them to look forward to. For my grandmothers, they would say "mai wan wan" (buy for fun) and if they win, it is a bonus to them.

-----------------------Miracle Numbers'-----------------------

Another interesting thing about 4D is what they call "zhen zi" (miracle numbers). As long as it is numbers, it has the potential to be a winning number. In times of disaster, such as an accident or fire, they would buy the numbers on the number plate of the car that got into a crash or the house unit that was on fire. I find it really amusing. 4D buyers seem to have a special eye as they see the mirable numbers everywhere, even the garbage dump.

-----------------------Frustrations'-----------------------

I found these vandalisms really interesting. It doesn't really make much sense and I saw the chinese characters which says "quit gambling". It seems to show someone who has no control over his gambling habits and rather scribble down his frustrations amongst other vandalisms.

After further discussion with the group over the flow of the exhibition, "hope" and "miracle numbers" would be on exhibit. But I would have to improve on the granny's hands to make them look more formalistic. For the miracle numbers, I like the first shot better personally. Some of them preferred my second shot maybe because it looks more fine arts. But to convey the message that the miracle numbers could be found even on garbage dumps some mentioned that the first shot could show it better. Mr Reddy said the first shot has more character and he suggested I could try cropping around to improve it visually.

Assignment 7 : In-dependence (Stage 1)

2007-11-24T10:52:00.000+08:00

For the final assignment, after brainstorming and going through so many themes, our group's topic is " In-dependence" (note: not independence) which refers to something being in dependent of another thing. For the first stage, we did some rough shootings. I guess in-dependence usually gives the feeling of reliance on something else to make up for any shortcomings on the initial body. And for most people it is more inclined towards the negative side. For my interpretation of in-dependence, I thought of taking things that people depend on to give a sense of comfort to themselves. I thought of was religion-spiritual dependence. Here are two examples of my shots on spiritual dependence.

-----------------------Peaceful Benevolence`-----------------------

This shot was on guan-yin, the goddess of compassion and caring. I chose to emphasize on her fingers. I think it symbolizes peace, healing and comfort.

-----------------------A moment of tranquility`-----------------------

In some religions, joss sticks are offered to the gods and what I wanted to portray here was the feelings that people have when they offer the joss sticks. I see it as a form of dependence as I believe the moment when people pray would be the time when they feel the most peace within themselves. Thus, this form of spiritual dependence gives them a sense of comfort. I took many many shots of the joss sticks to capture the different patterns of smoke and this was the one I was most satisfied with. I also like the smoke in the second joss sticks photo but I thought the first one seems more peaceful because the smoke was not so haphazard.

-----------------------A puff of comfort`-----------------------

Another approach I took was smoking. This idea came when I saw cigarette buds places so neatly in a row. It is definitely unhealthy but I wonder what comes to the minds of these people when they puff away. Could it give them a sense of comfort? Seeing the cigarettes placed in these manner makes me wonder if the people faced many stresses and problems such that smoking allows them to forget about the worries for that short amount of time.

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After Mr Reddy saw our shots, he mentioned most of us tried to show in-dependence literally. Thus most of the shots lacked emotions. Plus we need some link to Singapore and you can imagine what a big headache I had. I think showing dependence on something for comfort is so difficult and now I had to show some link to the Singapore context. I was basically stuck! I thought so hard and if I wanted to continue doing on in-dependence on religion, I would have to think of something to link it to Singapore. I really don't know how to because I am dealing with inner peace, something spiritual.

Singapore Culture

2007-11-23T04:53:00.000+08:00

Singapore is made up of so many different races. I feel that it is the diversity which gives us a unique culture. Where else in the world do we have Chinese, Indians, Malays and other races living together and still regarding themselves as one citizen. I truly think this have made us more accepting of each other's different cultures and gives us a unique identity as Singaporeans. However, sometimes I do feel that there is so many other external influences from other countries which inevitably overpowers our own culture. I would say the Internet greatly facilitates this. Almost every young Singaporean have Internet access and be exposed to things like Japanese anime, Korean wave, Taiwanese Chinese pop music, Western hip hop and rnb music etc.

I think we have a flair for accepting influences from other countries and then incorporate our own styles into them. Take the coffee culture for example. It is so prevalent in America/Europe and eventually gets incorporated into the Singapore lifestyle. I forgot when (I think the early 1990s) but all of a sudden, Coffee Bean and Starbucks outlets sprung up over the island. It became trendy to drink coffee at these cafes, rather than our own kopi tiams (coffee shops). So which of our own styles did we integrate into the American coffee drinking culture? It is when you see students studying vigourously and holding project meetings at coffee bean, starbucks and macdonalds. It is quite interesting really.... A coffee cafe should be a place for relaxation and for catching up with friends with the cosy ambience. Yet we see Singaporean kids mugging in cafes. No wonder there is so much confidence in our education.

As for our own kopi tiams that has a strong local element due to a long heritage of the Hokkien traders who run them in the past, it is more common in the heartlands. We say "kopi-O" instead of black coffee. "Kopi-O siew dai" instead of black coffee with less sugar, "Milo beng" instead of ice milo as well as our "kaya roti" (kaya bread). Sadly, most people especially the young people would rather go to coffee bean than kopi tiams. Fortunately, kopi tiams with modern elements such as the "Ya Kun Toast" comes along to revive the good old time. Now people can enjoy their kopi in air conditioned places. I would say that Singaporeans have such good flexibility to adapt to different changes. However, this change in environment has totally altered the true essence of kopi tiams where people know one another and openly greet each other as they talk about things like the economy and politics. Sadly, it is a compromise that comes with commercialization. It is always a stuggle that is hard to maintain a balance.

As for traits that have been linked to Singaporeans such as kiasu (afraid to lose). It is quite sad that when we mention Singapore culture, many would rather talk about how kiasu we are. I feel that kiasu is not something that we are born with. Rather, something that we are shaped to become. We are shaped to be competitive and shaped to believe that we must not lose out. I guess we have been reminded too much that being a small country, we have to make it up by being more competitive. It shouldn't be over emphasized as being negative because we live in a country with a fast pace of life, sometimes it is inevitable that someone has to be kiasu. For a parent who has a family to support, kiasu means to work harder than others for the better of the family. In a society that places so much emphasis on academic excellence, it is also inevitable that parents are kiasu and want their children to be put in the best schools and have the best tuition teachers. I believe within kiasu-ism itself, there are so many underlying reasons. Thus, it would be biased to label it as a negative trait of Singaporeans.

In short, we have a rich culture of our own, however commercialization have led to a dilemma, whether to embrace the external influences for advancement or to hold on tightly to the lingering scents of local culture.

Assignment 6 : Photo Analysis

2007-11-19T13:25:00.000+08:00

Assignment 6's Theme: Analysing a picture (group assignment - 2 students per group)

Select any image from one of the following genres of photograph from recent publication (news paper, magazine, online) - Photojournalism, Social documentary, Commercial photography

Analyse the picture: List how selected photograph might be read by target audience. Morris framework is a good starting point for analysing photographs.

----------------------------- Fake Sisley Ad`-----------------------------

Chosen Ad: A Fake Sisley's Ad (Published: June 2007)

Advertising Agency: Zoo Advertising, Shanghai, China

Creative Director: Alex Sean / Art Director: Stephen Zou / Copywriter: Sandy Sang / Photographer: Taurus

Slogan: Fashioin Junkie

Medium: Internet

I did this photo analysis assignment with Christina and the ad we chose to analyse was on the Benetton brand, Sisley. Apparently, this ad is fake! Benetton which is well-known for their controversial ad campaigns claimed that this ad is completely fake and that they have nothing to do with them. I thought it's pretty interesting because the first time I saw this ad, I also thought it was real. Maybe because it looks professionally done. Since there are so many speculations over whether its real or not, Chris and I decided to be detectives and find out the truth haaha.. just kidding... there's no way we can find out the real truth, but we can analyse how viewers might interpret the ad and whether you think it's real or not is up to your own interpretations. :)

----------------------- Analysis`-----------------------

1. Semantics

a. Signifier: White dress

Signified: Heroin

b. Signifier: Uncovered breast

Signified: Helpless and vulnerability

c. Signifier: Dark, enclosed room with metal grills

Signified: A confined space which shows compression- constrained by the drugs (fashion brand)

d. Signifier: Credit card

Signified: Spending power

2. Pragmatics:

The girls are presented as sniffing cocaine. (Junkies) However, the message the ad conveys is that they are fashion junkies. To illustrate their insatiable craving for the brand.

3. Colours

Colour tones have great symbolism, it creates different moods and describes different emotional states. Each colour expresses the wavelength of light that in turn produces sensations on our mind. The colour tones in this ad are mainly dark.

a. Black colour symbolizes sorrow, hopelessness and depression. However it can also depict sophistication and style. Black is widely used in fashion as it can be considered a stylish colour. For this ad, black might be used for that purpose.

b. White is known for peace and unity. It shows how the white dress satisfies their craving for fashion.

c. The use of a violet dress is really interesting. Violet is a well known colour for majesty and richness. In this ad, the model is wearing a violet dress to represent the rich taste of wearing the clothes brand.

d. In another ad under the same series, red was used. It is the colour of love, passion, excitement. (For the brand). It can also symbolize aggressiveness. The red cloth which spills out from the glass and close to the model's lips represents alcohol addiction.

4. Metaphor

For the slogan, "Fashion" is spelled as "Fashioin" - made to sound like "Heroin". It is to show the addiction for the brand.

5. The recumbent positions

Note: the body positions, lowering of the heads, lying on the floor. Acceptance of subordination/submissive. The level of our heads are also lowered. Though in addiction, the gaze of the model on the right demonstrates some control. In most fashion ads, the recumbent positions are used. In past sisley ads, we spotted this trend as well.

6. Syntatic

After discussing the different signifiers and their meanings, the colour tones and the slogan, we see a strong link between them. The underlying message in the ad is to illustrate the insatiable addiction for the brand. Their target audience which they refer to as the fashion junkies would be able to relate their love/craving for the brand just like how drug addicts fall helplessly for drugs - they cannot do without them. We feel that the colour tones gives the ad a stylish look, suitable for a fashion ad. It also does much to justify their message about addiction. The slogan helps to reinforce their message of "fashioin junkies", people who are addicted to fashion.

The ad has suffered much criticisms such as it has a bad influence on teens. For myself, I do not really feel so strong about it. Looking at a pict like that wouldn't influence me to take drugs. I guess it really depends much on an individual's background and discipline. In fact, I think the slogan "fashioin junkie" is quite innovative to illustrate the addiction for a brand.

So are the ads genuine or fake? There have been doubts and speculations on the Internet. It is still unclear who was behind the circulation of these offensive and misleading images and what reasons he or she had for doing it. As quoted by fashion critic, "why would anyone go through the time and effort to produce the fake ads? is this a double bluff? Grab the attention, then deny involvement?"

If you guys are interested in Benetton's past campaigns, you can find them here. They have concepts that evoke strong emotions, like showing a priest and a nun kissing etc. They are well-known for controversial campaigns. Personally, I feel that some of these ads are quite interesting. Very often, featuring controversial things like sex and drugs often spark debates and some people say that it is a bad influence on young people. I guess very often we try to hide from certain issues, however censoring them doesn't mean that it doesn't exists. Being open about them and talking about it might be better?

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

During the class presentation, Mr Reddy commented about Ivy and Michelle's photo that umbrellas can be interpreted as being indifferent and cold. Like how in some movies umbrellas are always related to passerbys. I think this is an example of how people from different cultures interpret signs differently because for the Chinese, when someone passes away, the relative or family would carry an umbrella during the funeral to shelter the spirit of the dead. Therefore, when I look at the photo which Ivy and Michelle presented, I feel quite strong for it, like as if the different umbrellas represents the spirits who are also part of the protest.

In buddhism, the Umbrella or parasol embodies notions of wealth or royalty, for one had to be rich enough to possess such an item, and further, to have someone carry it. It points to the "royal ease" and power experienced in the Buddhist life of detachment. It also symbolises the wholesome activities to keep beings from harm (sun) like illness, harmful forces, obstacles and so forth, and the enjoyment of the results under its cool shade.

I find the different interpretations very interesting.

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

I thought that Meimei and Paul did well in their photo analysis. The part on the different relationship between king and queen vs queen and jack was so interesting. To be frank I didn't know that there were so many meanings behind each card. They also had many other photos to backup their analysis which was very good and I could see lots of effort put into it. I give them 10/10. Jialin and Karen's analysis of the ad on Nagaraya Nuts was also detailed, plus they did a part on analysing how the filipinos would interpret the ad, which I thought was good. I give them 9.5/10. Like them, Mark and Natalie also mentioned their Volvo ad in relation to Saudi Arabia.

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I would give the two of us 8.8/10, more room for improvement as I thought we could have analyzed it more like how different audiences from various cultures would interpret or see the ad like how some other groups did as well as analyse it in relation to more supporting photos.

Assignment 5 : Creep

2007-10-11T18:47:00.000+08:00

Assignment 5's Theme: Creep. One subject three intentions: Realistic, formalistic and expressionistic interpretation. Select appropriate subject under given theme. Create three images (photographs) exploring three aesthetic intentions of a photographer.

----------------------- Snails`-----------------------

The theme for this assignment was creep. I thought of many different interpretations and decided to make snails my subject. This topic was inspired by the fact that most people refer to snails as slow moving creatures. I think it has a bad name to it because of that. But, my perceptions towards snails have gone beyond that because of a song (by jay chou) I've heard about snails a few years back. Inspired by the song, I wrote an essay on it during my jc days and thus, my choice for this topic was something I could relate to.

----------------------- Realism`-----------------------

Realism is the notion that the photograph offers a straightforward "transparent" view of the world, subscribing to a tradition that considered pictures to offer "a window on the world': close to what we would have seen had we been there at the time the photograph was taken.

This was one of the first few pictures I took of the snails before the concepts saturated my brain. That's why I chose it for the realism photo. I had a similar close-up shot of this picture. However, I chose this because i think including the background would give viewers more knowledge of the context which the photo was taken. I had some qualms about whether zooming in on the subject would still portray realism.

----------------------- Formalism`-----------------------

Considered the photograph as an aesthetic object. The view holds that while the photograph may offer a limited view of the world, it is primarily a flat surface that supports a pattern of light, shade and colours. In this context when we look at a photograph we are always aware of the properties of the photographic medium.

For this photo, I thought the patterns on the snail's shell and the fence provides a nice soft mood for the photo. I think I have lots to learn about taking macro shots. I suppose there is another type of lens suitable for taking macro shots? The lens that I was using didn't allow me to take closer shots of the snail. I did wanted to try out just taking the patterns on the snail's shell for the formalism shot. I could visualize how it would look. Unfortunately I couldn't implement them. But still, this shot was one of my favourite formalism shots because the colours of the fence and those on the snail's shells compliments each other. It could be the colours that tied them together, as well as the lines formed by the snail's shell and the fence. It was through taking these pictures that I realize why we were always told in class to take as many pictures as you can. Sometimes you end up realizing there's something interesting that you could have overlooked.

----------------------- Expressionalism`-----------------------

Implies the use of the photograph to express the feelings or ideas of the photographer that may go beyond the initial appearance of the image and its material qualities. In this context the photograph may express the photographer's emotional feelings or a strongly held political viewpoint or social comment.

No matter how slow you are moving, even the slightest progression you make can bring you to the top one day. For me, what I wish to express could be intepreted through this 3rd picture. I thought of how to express the desire to reach a destination and I thought the bottom-up view could best portray it. Just to share, during my JC days, my maths was quite bad haha and my maths teacher, Mr Chia gave me extra lessons and said something to me I always remember, especially when I feel I'm making little progress about something I do. He said "slow and steady wins the race". Haha sounds a bit cliche to you? Though it's not a new metaphor about how slow moving animals like the tortoise or snail are often used to encourage people not to be disheartened and that every bit of progression makes a difference, I just thought there's something really encouraging and warm about it. Hopefully this photo could be inspiring to others as well. :)

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

Sitting in critique session this week was rather mind boggling. Mainly because of the 3 concepts. The 3 words kept recurring in my mind and looking through tons of pictures really drained me to fatigue level. I guess it really wasn't easy to identify the intentions of a photograph. I would say because of the unique experiences everyone of us have, each photograph would be interpreted in a different way. For me, it was my candid expressions towards the snail and because of my perceptions that I already have in mind, that was the best way I feel could portray my views.

Remember I said I had some qualms about whether zooming in on the subject would still portray realism? Some of my classmates said that my realism photo showing the background could portray realism better. Mr Reddy said zooming in on the subject could still show realism. If you look at some other pictures I took, there is a close up shot of the snail. How I thought realism could be portrayed is that the picture is mainly on the subject-the snail. The snail is realism. Haha I hope you get what I'm trying to say. It's so hard to put my thoughts down in words sometimes. Anyway, I guess it wouldn't be possible to take a photo that is 100% realism. Like what some of my peers said, then wouldn't framing a picture, changing the colours or even simply adjusting the shutter speed already take realism away? I feel it's a compromise, nothing is perfect or absolute. Even realism can be unreal. Why are we given such a difficult task? haha...... but anyway, it's good brain exercise.. I have never thought of something in this manner.

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

For my group session, I thought Ivy did a nice rendition of the 3 concepts. She really notices things that sometimes others wouldn't, like the multiples of 3 and the prison bars. It might be abstract because I wouldn't have noticed the multiples of 3 especially but, I give her full marks for her interesting rendition of the 3 concepts. I really wouldn't have thought how vandalism on the wall could depict creep like how she did.

I thought Jasmine has taken a series of very emotive pictures, STRESS CREEPS; HOPE SEEPS. I like how she talked about newspapers soaked in rain were not as strong as bundled papers. Soaked and drenched gives me a sombre feeling. Maybe that's why her three photos are expressionalism to me. Nonetheless, I give her 9/10 for the nice and thoughful exploration of her three photos.

I like Mike's expressionalism photo. I enjoy such photos of depicting life in a gloomy environment. It was a very nicely taken shot! Love the colours, especially the crisp green of the leaves in contrast to the tiled monuments. I give him 9.5/10. Maybe because of the melanoid colours, it also gives me a sense of expressionalism for the other photos.

I liked some of the individual photos of some of my classmates. I like Paul's picture of the angels. As always, his nicely taken pictures have an allure and makes people think beyond what they see. Meimei's picture of the heart shaped-part of the leaf that was eaten away, she could actually spot that. Interesting. I think ever since we started doing photography, we notice tiny details that we normally wouldn't. Stephanie's state land photo really speaks aloud about her feelings about the people who made her granny sell the land for a miserable few thousand.

From the other class, I notices Huiling's (chee) series of the creep of second-hand smoke. I thought it was really very interesting. Especially for the expressionalism photo, I think her perspective really shows how the smoke creeps to the unknowing people nearby. Really nice concept :) For the great concept, I give her 9.5/10. I agree with her that formalism pictures are difficult to take. A little more would have an inclination towards expressionalism. Just a suggestion, maybe just taking the patterns formed by the smoke can show formalism better? I think there is a good potential for her series of photos. :)

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I was glad that some of my classmates like how I showed the concepts with the three photos. Thank you for the encouraging comments some of you gave me.

I would give myself 10 for effort, 9.5 for creativity/concept and 9 for techniques. Total of : 9.5/10

The 0.5 marks/10 left for improvement would be for better photo taking techniques, more understanding and experimentation of the three concepts. Though I think I did manage to show the 3 concepts quite adequately, I feel there is still room for better understanding. And Mr Reddy mentioned a small part that can be improved for the expressionalism photo would be to show more of the sky. I think by showing more of the sky it would give more space for the viewer's eyes.

-----------------------Other pictures I took`-----------------------

This is the close-up realism photo I was talking about. Is it still realism to you?

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I tried to show formalism with the twirls on the snail's shell.

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Assignment 4 : The Day After

2007-10-11T14:50:00.000+08:00

Assignment 4's Theme: Photomontage in artist David Hockney’s style which he called “joiner”. Hockney explored difference between mechanical view and eye’s/minds view (single vs. multiple point of view). Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs.

It had been a long time since I played with jigsaw puzzles. :) This assignment was tedious but fun at the same time. It is definitely time consuming to piece tons of photos together. For me, the beauty and intriguing part of a photo montage would be how the imperfections looked perfect. It may be an indulgence for some of us to piece bits and pieces together to create a picture in the way we see things. You can even create your own dreamland. :)

---------------- What was for dinner yesterday?----------------

The photos were taken during dinner on a Saturday night after my photo taking outdoors. I enjoy taking pictures when eating with friends and family so anytime I look at them, it will remind me of the happy moments then. Making this photo montage was enjoyable because when piecing the photos together, I could recollect the fun moments :) I was glad the camera was with me because this was not my initial idea. I was trying to be as discreet as I can in the restaurant but once I got into the mood, I couldn't stop shooting. Ended up taking more photos than eating. My brother said I was like a paparazzi haha (At least he had moments of how is it like to be a celebrity) Anyway, in the photo, I wanted to include a little bit of myself so I took shots of my hand and the food I was eating. Hopefully when you see the picture, you can imagine yourself sitting beside me and enjoying the food as well.

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

I decided to remove the lights which I added in after feedbacks from Meimei and Christina that the initial light added to the picture didn't really fit in the ceiling due to the colours. Adjusted the lightings and colours but couldn't make it look more natural.

I made some mistakes during my photo taking, I didn't take shots of everything in view. Thus I didn't manage to include more angles to the top/bottom and the sides. Other feedbacks about my montage was it was quite interesting to see the people without legs such as the waiter and the boy, as well as my hand that provide an interesting view to the montage. If you have any other ideas on how I can improve, please drop me a comment? :)

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

After seeing all the works in class, I realized I was more captured by those that were not joint exactly but still looked so compatible next to each other. Really allures me. My favourite would be Meimei's 'The Day After - Uncover it' (edited version one). The montage was just so beautifully done and the fact that she was doing a montage on her favourite backalley added lots of sentiment to the picture. Maybe I am personally fond of things that changed in condition over time, every detail such as the rusty pipes, the signs of burns on the floor, the windows, ladders and creeping plants made my eyes glued to the picture. I give her 10/10 for the montage. I would love to see the completed version of the whole row of all the shophouses!

I also like Zhen Qin's montage. His idea of 2 moments in time merged into one was splendid. Sometimes I really thought of what is it like for a world to be more random. There are too much systematic things and we always have to follow...... For me, his montage says something like 'let's just have fun'. I really like this idea of an impossible traffic. I used to think how is it like for people to be walking upside down. Might be an inspiration for my next montage :) I give him full marks for his idea. Total of 9/10, a little improvement on his execution and techniques can enhance the aesthetics of his montage. I think Jasmine has a somewhat similar concept but it felt quite scary to see people on the mrt tracks.

I like Paul's concept of 'Day after tomorrow' a lot. Sometimes when you sit down quietly, thoughts would just engulf your mind. In his concept, the same bench but everyday there are different people who sits there. And all of them sits there with different feelings. For some, it may be an escape from the buzz of the stressful life, it may be loneliness that fills the person or just a simple place for a family to enjoy the happy moments together. The bench may just be a static thing, but different individuals sitting on the bench day after day gives different meanings to the bench. I give him full marks for his concept. Really very thoughtful and thought provoking. Anyway, this module seems to have become quite philosophical for me... haha :)

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I would give myself 10 for effort, 8 for creativity/concept and 8 for techniques. Total of : 8.6/10

The 1.4 marks left for improvement would be for a better execution. I should have taken more photos and include more angles such as those on the left and right on me and even above and include them in my photo montage so I can display a better overview of the place that I was in. :)

Assignment 3 - Change

2007-10-04T15:36:00.000+08:00

Assignment 3's Theme: We live in a country where only thing which is constant is change. Photo essay: Create 8 to 12 pictures essay on above theme. Select appropriate point of view which addresses the theme.

----------------------- Deteriotation`-----------------------

My theme for this assignment was deterioration. Very often when we talk about change, we thought of changes for the better. There are many things around us that are deteriorating everyday and most probably we wouldn't pay so much attention to them.

I chose this theme for myself to discover and capture the little details around me and hopefully give deterioration a little appreciation.

-----------------------'Cracks'-----------------------

This was one of the first few pictures I took. I don't usually pay much attention to them :) But when taking this photo, I was quite amazed by the beautiful cracks because they are the art of nature. Each line went through years to form and are unique in their own ways.

-----------------------'Rustic'-----------------------

I took many pictures of plants that deteriorated but this one attracts me because of the rustic look of it. Though the bright yellow colour of the flower had faded, the petals remained strong. I really like the sepia tones of the petals.

-----------------------'Fallen'-----------------------

I took this shot in a back alley. There was a fallen pink flower in the middle of the ground. There were no trees around and the beaming pink colour of it caught my attention quick . The interesting part of this photo was the cigarette at the side of the drain. Seems to be talking about health and no matter how pretty and radiant you look, if your health deteriorates from smoking, you are just a fallen flower.

-----------------------'Crayon'-----------------------

This photo was taken at the same back alley as the previous photo. This is one of my favourite photos. I don't really know why particularly, but I guess the dirt and filth of this place attracts me in an unusual way. Especially the black portion on the right, looks like black crayon coloured on the white walls.

-----------------------'Depreciation'-----------------------

I wanted to portray deterioration through the downwards angle of the depreciated spiral steps.

-----------------------'Natures' trials'-----------------------

I like this picture because of the stages of deterioration I could see. The obvious ones would be those you spot on the wood. It was gloomy at the same time because something as sturdy as wood couldn't escape the trials of nature. Upon deeper thought, the other deterioration was that of the trees used to make this wooden chair.

-----------------------'Buried'-----------------------

This is a picture of an old dictionary. I believe for most people, there is a dictionary hidden somewhere at home. We use it so often when we're a child but at different points in our lives, we stop using it as often and it gives me a feeling of abandon and deterioration.

-----------------------'Is it fresh?'-----------------------

In the wet market, people often ask if the fish is fresh. I thought of this question while taking this photo. When you look at it as food, it might be fresh. When you look at it as a living thing, definitely not, because it had deteriorated from its natural state.

----------------------- 'Dump'-----------------------

I choose to end off my series with the rubbish dump because it's the place where we throw away things that deteriorated. I guess it's probably the most overlooked thing around us. Smelly and dirty.... but didn't the things that landed in there started off clean and beautiful?

----------------------- After thoughts`-----------------------

I was pretty impressed by some of my classmates' works... This assignment was a difficult one because it wasn't easy to make a photo essay, the concept has to be clear. For me, even if you were taking separate things that reflects the concept, it would be pleasing to see that the photos looked like a set, maybe a certain mood that could bind the photos together. This was one of the things I paid attention to when taking the photos. I didn't just want to take things that reflects deterioration but also wanted to create a mood somewhat like a beautiful melancholy.

I got some feedbacks from classmates like maybe I could take away one of the wall pictures since I had two of them (thank you steph). I guess i have to make a choice after all so I took away the picture of 'Refreshing Corrosion' and used 'Cracks' instead. I like the orange colour for 'Refreshing Corrosion' and the point of focus was on the obvious crack and colour. However, I decided to use 'Cracks' even though there wasn't really a specific point of focus, the different intensity of the cracks was what made photo looked complete to me. That's why I chose it to be part of my set. I also took away one picture of the wooden chair since I had two shots of it. (Reason why I presented 2 was because I couldn't make a choice) Maybe I'm not a very decisive person, I tend to stare at the picture for very long and still can't make a choice. :) Got to learn to be more stern when making choices.

Even though 'Rustic' and 'Fallen' had flowers in both of them, I kept both because I was portraying different types of deterioration in the 2 pictures. Wanted to remove 'Forgotten' initially but since the class thought it should remain as they could relate to it, I shall keep it in the set. Well Mr Reddy I'm afraid the fish picture is here to stay haha maybe you can overcome the creeps of fish eyes' stare by looking at it more and getting used to it.

Mr Reddy's suggestion that taking away a few pictures would still make the photo essay make sense of the concept and for it to flow better makes a lot of sense. I think after doing that, my photo essay had a more perpetual flow. I could enhance on this flow factor more, especially after seeing some really good works in class which mirrored that aspect really well. I couldn't expect a sequential flow since my photos weren't bound by a time factor eg. a few photos to represent the past vs some to represent the present. I would work more on a flow in the mood of the photos.

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

I though Ivy had a very nice concept of changes in art and presenting it with a poem really complement the flow in her pictures. I give her 9.5/10. Her concept is very thoughtful, probably a little brush up on techniques. Paul's concept of skin deep beauty was great. What I like about his concept was covering up the imperfections, something we are guilty of in someways or another. I especially like the photos 'Our coverings' and 'All dressed up'. I give him 9.5/10 for his amazing and well-thought concept. I thought he could explore his concept of society's shallow perceptions of beauty more, it has potential to develop further. His concept of how a baby's carefree spirit is eroded away was touching as well. I thought it had some relation to Eileen's concept of different feelings from young to old. Very emotive :)

Stephanie's concept was on corrosion and I think she did well as her concept was clear and what made her set worked for me was the nice hold the colours gave to the photos. I give her 9/10. A little more variations would be great. My fav of her photos was 'wall' because with all the corrosion taking place, it was captivating to see growth with the plants on the wall. Gives me a sense of comfort, it seems to be saying growth and corrosion are inevitable and part of nature's cycle. Meimei's photo, 'Forgotten' could portray a somewhat similar idea . The old lady was forgotten by the fast pace of life. Very thoughtful shot. This photo is a good inspiration to my initial idea. I wanted to capture the things that goes unnoticed against the face pace of life within the same photo but I wasn't able to develop it nicely.

I like Samatha's concept of 'What's left behind?' With change, there are certain things that would be left behind. 'The Road Less Travelled' was my favourite, it was the photo that could most reflect her concept. What I thought was she could strengthen her concept more to better show things that are left behind. Nonetheless, what I like was the strong attachment each photo had with each other because of the mood and style which she often display in her photos-one that evokes strong emotions.

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I would give myself 10 for effort, 8.5 for creativity/concept and 7 for techniques. Total of : 8.5/10

The 1.5 marks left for improvement would be for a stronger flow in my photos, to be more decisive and make better choices for my photos as well as to develop on my idea further :)

-----------------------Other pictures I took-----------------------

'Refreshing Corrosion'

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'Cobbler'

What I like was how a person who mend things looks in need for someone to mend his sorrows. He seems to be smoking his troubles away. This is a photo which I like but I didn't include because I wasn't sure if it could fit in my set.

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Assignment 2 - Exposure

2007-09-24T18:14:00.000+08:00

Assignment 2: Exposure - light, colour, texture and patterns. Observe how light interacts with object creating shadow and sense of depth. How colours change their saturation through dawn to dusk. How light create patterns and how shadows make texture feel tactile. Explore image capture techniques to create sense of space and time of real world in your prints. This assignment is primarily for you to get familiar with image capture equipment, to understand limitations of image capture devices, and to understanding basic limitations of capturing real life in a print.

My first experience with a digital SLR camera! :) It was really exciting for me and I had a few interesting encounters. The first one was when I came across a big lizard, I think it's an iguana.... Scared me coz I was walking along some bushes just 5 mins after I stepped out of my house all excited when I heard some noises. When I saw the lizard I was so disgusted because I am very scared of lizards, even those small ones..... Yuck.... With my photographic instincts, I immediately took out the camera and took a picture of it... Another encounter was being chased out of the zouk compound because the person said I was trespassing... I didn't see any no entry sign that's why I entered the carpark... :( Alright enough of my encounters, time to look at the pictures I have taken and presented in class! The 2 pictures that I chose were 'Three's a crowd' and 'Barbed wings'.

----------------------- 'Three's a crowd'-----------------------

Venue: Chinatown
F18, 1/800sec, Iso400

I like this picture because of the contrast the blue sky has with the building. The picture was slightly underexposed. I took another shot whereby both the sky and building were bright and clear but the mood of this appeals more to me. And I like how the bird on the extreme left tilted its head to the left. :)

----------------------- 'Barbed Wings'-----------------------

Venue: Zion Road
F14, 1/100sec, Iso 400

This is another fav picture of mine. I took it at the balcony of my house in the evening at about 7. I like the texture of the clouds and the light that peeked from the clouds. Against the cloudy sky, the barbed wire looked very vivid and it looks like the wings of some insect.

-----------------------Other Pictures I have Taken-----------------------

'Y'

Another picture I took and I like the texture and colours of the sky and the Y silhoutte.

'Sunny Afternoon Date on a wire'

These metal containers were taken at the zouk compound where I was chased out.

Took them from outside after that.

Encounter with the big lizard... For obvious reasons I didn't dare to go nearer and this was the most I could zoom in :)

The 3 blue pictures were taken at this blue building at chinatown. I like the distinct blue colour of the building as well as the shadow of a row of latterns hung above that was cast on the ground. Coincidentally, a blue mini cooper drove past and they looked so matching :)

A picture taken near clarke quay. Thought the colours and the details looked very nice, but my skills probably weren't good enough to bring out the essence of the picture. Will try harder next time :)

Clothes pegs taken in the balcony of my house at night.

----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

That's all for the pictures for assignment 2 :) For this assignment, there were many good works in class. Paul's picture of the orange hut looks so nice, it's almost like an installation. I feel that making pictures look good from the front angle is more difficult because details like the composition of the things have to be perfect. I think the picture is very well taken for that reason. I actually thought it has depth because the left window has a small gap to peep through and makes a lot of difference if the gap wasn't there. I give him 10/10.

I particularly like Jialin's picture of the flower garlands because the colours were so vivacious, looks like a picture taken in the evening with the nice hues of sunlight and the shadow of a person walking past adds a lot to the atmosphere of the picture. Very nice :) I give it 10/10.

Mike's Fire in the night sky was beautiful because the clouds look fierce due to the orange tones and the sharp edges yet gentle because of the feathery texture.I also like Meimei's picture of the red car because the car against the grey cement floor matched with the aged wall displays a very retro mood which is very appealing. Another picture I like that wasn't presented in class was Qiyi's picture of the parrots in the cage. It would hv been good if the parrot in front was in better focus but what I like was the delightful colours and position of the birds. Very appealing to me too.

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

As compared to the many good works in class, I would give myself a total of: 8.5/10.

The 1.5 marks left for improvement would be for brushing up on my techniques.

I would love to explore the 2 pictures more and to enhance them but the birds eventually flew away and I couldn't get the same effects of clouds on other days. In any case, I will appreciate these 2 pictures because it is highly impossible for me to get exact similar pictures. Really says a lot about capturing the moment :)

Assignment 1 : Photogram or Photogenic Drawing

2007-09-06T18:03:00.000+08:00

Assignment: You’ll make your first photogram using flat bed scanner instead of photosensitive paper. The theory is similar. By placing objects directly on the scanner bed in an interesting composition you can create an image without a camera.

The first assignment already made me think so hard, to create an image using a scanner! Other than scanning papers, I have never been adventurous to scan other objects haha... I scanned crumpled aluminium foil just to experiment with textures and it looked like mountains/many birds from a top-down view. I scanned chillies, mask, yin and yang sign with mnms, all of them (other than the foil) with the scanner head open and lights off because I couldn't close it fully and it looked really ugly with a little light exposed.... and I didn't know that there is a function with the scanner to achieve a pure white background. Otherwise I would have experimented with that :(

-----------------------'Teabag'-----------------------

The many pictures that I scanned looked quite flat so I decided to turn the scanner upright after all the frustration that I couldn't achieve something I liked... Then I scanned the teabag. (On a side note, I enjoy drinking tea especially the fruity flavoured ones!) I chose the lipton teabag becauseI think the yellow really stood out from the background. I scanned a few times with just the tea bag alone, with my hand and with a cup. I spent a really long time scanning the one with my hands because positioning my hands was a big problem. Plus i was trying not to shake.... This was my most satisfied one.

-----------------------'Roots'-----------------------

I finally scanned the good luck bamboos in my house and was quite surprised how the roots appeared alive in the picture that it was scary.... The white distorted lines were actually caused by a flash light, it looks like some waves that the bamboo emit....

-----------------------Other Scans`-----------------------

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----------------------- Peer Evaluation`-----------------------

I was actually very impressed by the works of many people in class. I liked Paul's harmony of music the best because I feel that it was really natural and wasn't trying too hard to express his likes. Something I really hope to achieve in future.... I give it 10/10. I thought Jialin's works were very creative, (using wax and paint on transparency) and the colours are so strong and beautiful. Other likes were the colours of Jasmine's onion rings scan, the composition of meimei's scan - nets capturing the stars and Mike's Stasis .

Thank you for the comments on the scans especially the interpretation of "roots" as going back to our traditional roots and for interesting ideas such as putting dry ice in the cup for it to look like steam from the teabag.

----------------------- Self Assessment`-----------------------

I would give myself 9 for creativity and 7 for scanning techniques. A total of 8/10.

To see things beautiful

2007-09-06T15:27:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone... :) This is my first photo blog just like many others taking the photography module. As excited as I am about taking this module, I feel some jitters maybe because photography is pretty new to me, with the exceptions of taking fun pictures with friends. But I'll really treat it as a good opportunity to learn all I can during this few months, definitely looking forward to each week and most importantly learning from others.

I always enjoy looking at other people's beautiful pictures and wish I could do the same. Now, I finally have the chance to do so and the excitement is more than I can describe, hopefully you can feel it through the pictures I have taken and will be taking. To me, organic means the most fundamental, simplest and natural form. Through photography, I hope I can see all things beautiful. Feel free to give any comments, I believe I can benefit from every simple comment that you make!