Final - Social Documentary : INKed

Artist's statement - inspired meanings

My works are inspired by what happens around me. Looking beyond the obvious and searching for a deeper meaning; there is often a side of things that people don't usually see.
When people see my work, I would like them to step back and reflect upon their own experiences and how they relate to what I am conveying in my pieces.

Concealed scar

Joan, 48, Widow, Mother of four.

Joan attempted suicide over financial and relationship problems. It left a scar on her, both mentally and physically.

The tattoo covers up the ugly slash on her wrist, and reminds her of the incident.

Manly Trumpeter

Chris, 25, Professional trumpeter.

Decided to get a dragon tattoo on his back shoulder to look manlier.

The social stereotype of male musicians in Singapore is that they are very feminine. Chris’s tattoo is his way of expressing his masculinity.

Unconforming Student












Darren, 25, Undergraduate.

Disregards the negative social connotations of dragon tattoos.
Feels that his dragon tattoo is an expression of his non-conformity, personal style and character.

Assignment 7 : Culture of Singapore - reflection / visual media and singapore culture

I used to think that the Singapore does not have its own unique culture. Everywhere I look, there is nothing interesting and everything looks like an adaptation of some other country’s culture.

However, the culture of Singapore is actually very unique if we were to take a step back and look closer using a different perspective and mindset. For me, the camera lens gave me a different perspective of the Singapore culture.

Culture : People

I used to think that Singapore is a very developed nation where everyone is wealthy and has a stable job and home. However when I went to the streets to take photos in my “Changes” assignment, I started to observe pockets of poor people who mingle amongst well dressed people. These poor people are often on a slower pace and they differ greatly with the normal pedestrians, but people just do not notice them.

Not to say that Singapore is full of these poor people or that Singaporeans are uncaring, but the metropolitan nature of Singapore society just does not fit in with these images of the homeless and poverty. Photography have the power to capture these minorities and bring these otherwise unnoticed people and culture to the front line.

In the past, I didn't really bother to notice what people do as there is no motivation to do so. Now that I started taking photos of other people, I started observing what people do and how people interact. It made me look more closely at people around me and I began to have a better view of the Singapore culture.

Culture : Places

Looking at the Singapore’s cityscape in my “the day after” assignment, I noticed how progress and change is very rapid in Singapore and how this has an impact on the general culture in Singapore.

I noticed how Singapore’s cultural architecture changed when I went to the area around Chinatown, Bugis and Little India. I can often find many different cultural and religious buildings on the same stretch of road and many of these architectures are a combination of the various local races. Very unique to our local architecture heritage is that many of these shop houses, warehouses and old apartments are renovated and preserved as national heritage sites. Although these efforts by the Singapore government managed to preserve the cultural “hardware” (physical buildings), the “software”(human aspects) is often lost.

We can get the feeling of Singaporeans' nostalgia and attachment of their past, and their response to their rapidly changing environment with YiKang’s photos of Pioneer Junior College’s old campus. I realize that by speaking to the people I took photos of and by looking at the photographs of other photographers, I have formed a better understanding of the Singapore culture. Photography is an effective medium to capture feelings and memories which would otherwise be lost through time. From the perspective of these photographs, we can see and feel the different culture aspects of Singapore.

Assignment 6 : Photo analysis

Background : Samantha and I wanted to find photos which have a common subject (shadows) when placed in different settings gives different meanings. We searched the internet for photographs which are posted by various artists that uses shadows to convey a certain message in their works.

Concept : In the 5 chosen photographs, the photographers have deliberately used shadows as a main subject to symbolize different meanings in their photo composition. We intend to show how shadows can symbolize different meanings and create different moods in different photographs.

Interpretation : Normally, shadows do not stand as an important feature in a photograph and some photographers frame the photo in such a way that would leave the shadow out of the frame so that they would not block light from the actual subject or divert attention away from the main subject.

Other photographers would make use of shadows to enhance the texture of a subject or use shadows as an artistic expression in their photo composition.

In the following 5 examples, we want to read the photos with attention to shadow as a major component in a photograph. These photographers make use of the surrounding light influences to control shadows to portray a certain mood or message to the audience using the shadows.

Photo 1 : Loneliness

Iconic signs : railway is an icon of travel
Semantics : forest is a symbol of nature and uncharted foreign land.

How shadow works here : The shadow adds human presence and symbolizes loneliness and emptiness to the audience. We get a feeling that he/she was left behind.

Picture composition : The railway track and lines within the photo leads the audience into the photo. The photograph is very balance and has a very strong symmetry except for the placement of the shadow which is more to the left.

Photo 2 : Nostalgia

Semantics : Buildings symbolizes home. Open field symbolizes distance and emptiness. Shadow symbolizes memories of the past.

How shadow works here : Without the shadow, the photo would be a long shot of a modern neighborhood without deliberate meaning. The shadow however adds the meaning of loneliness and longing to the photo composition.

Picture composition : The distance of the subject (Buildings) is emphasized and placed at the upper end of the photograph. The distance of empty grass between the shadow and the buildings shows the internal emptiness of the subject (person with shadow).

Photo 3 : Poverty








Iconic signs : Carcasses is an icon of death
Indexical signs : Carcasses and dry sand signal the condition of famine.
Inter contextuality : People who have seen documentaries or news report of the living condition in Ethiopia of famine and draught would understand that the message that the photographer is trying to convey.

How shadow works here : The crowd of shadows around the carcass gives a very mysterious and suspicious mood. The anonymity of the shadows represents the many people living in poverty.

Picture composition : The shadows surround the carcass, framing it to make it the center of attention.

Photo 4 : Love











Iconic signs : “L,O,V,E” lettering sculpture is a graphical representation of emotional love.
Semantics : Arch doorway symbolizes romance, spotlight symbolizes the center of attention as it shines onto the arch and the couple into focus.

How shadow works here: The extension of the shadow downwards draws the attention of the audience to the, instead of the “L.O.V,E” sculpture. It increases the couple’s presence on the photo and reflects the loving posture of the couple to the audience.

Picture composition : It is in black and white giving it a very mysterious feel. The body language of the young couple standing below the arch gives a very sweet feeling of young love. The arch and the couple are placed slightly to the right so that it is not in the direct center of the photograph.

Photo 5 : Sorrow










Semantics : cage symbolizes being trapped, young boy symbolizes innocence and hope.
Inter contextuality : The audience must know of 991 incident to understand the photo or else it would not make any sense.
Pragmatics : 911 marks a very tragic incident and would have a very huge impact to arouse many complex feelings and emotions of tragedy to the audiences. The young boy looking at “ground zero” makes people think of the many orphans whose parents have died in the 911 incident.

How shadow works : The shadow adds emotions into the photograph as it stretches towards the audience adding tension.

Picture composition : The lines in the photo, including the shadow, all reaches out to the audience. It tries to stretch outwards, grabbing the audience. The photo is also compose according to the “rule of thirds” where the top above the thick horizontal line occupies 2/3 of the photo while the bottom 1/3. The boy is also place slightly to the left so that it is not boringly slapped in the center.

Conclusion : The same subject (shadows) can have mean different meanings and symbolizes differently in different photos.

Peer evaluation : I think that chew yue's group presentation on pollution was very good as their ads left a deep impression on me. The twist of fairytales in the photographs looked grotesque but the idea behind them was smart, playing on our previous knowledge of cupids, aliens and witches. Their analysis of the photos is also clear and I give them 9.6/10.

Rank : I give my team 8.8/10 as we have managed to explore how the various components in photographs work and how they might be read by the audience.

Assignment 5 : Creeps - Realistic, formalistic and expressionistic perspectives

Interpretation : The tension of territorial competition between nature (creeps) and human (buildings) is seen here and I hope to portray this from different camera viewpoints to express different things using the same subject (creeps).

Concept : Using the same subject, my audience should get a different feel and message for each of the perspective that I take.

         Realistic               Formalistic              Expressionistic

Realistic photo : It shows a wide view of the place and does not emphasize on any particular element in the environment. There is equal focus on the Building, Tree, Brick wall and Creeps. This photograph essentially shows a realistic portrayal of a deserted place covered with creeps.

Formalistic photo : The shape and texture of the creeps are emphasized here as I take a close-up view from the top of the brick wall. By using a larger camera aperture, the blurring effect allows us to focus on the texture and shape of the middle leafs and the red bricks. The audience is led to appreciate the growth of the creeps as the creeps extend in the downwards direction.

Expressionistic photo : I left the building out of the frame and only focusing on the brick wall. The emphasis here is on the struggle between nature and human by the strong contrast of the red brick (man-made) and the green creep (nature).

Background : I went to Yio Chu Kang in search of creepy buildings or scenery. However, after many hours of going around, I came across this deserted building (should be old housing of some sort) where there are creeps and vegetation growing all over. The absence of human in this place allowed the creeps to creep all over the place and it seems that the creeps are taking over the place.

Rank : I give myself 9.8 for this assignment as I feel that I managed to capture the subject “creeps” in different perspectives surround a central theme of tension between nature and human.

Peer evaluation : I like Desmond's portrayal of the creeping light using Singapore HDB flat as a subject. The same HDB flat looks very different in each shot and each photo gives a very different feel to the subject. It showed creeps in a very emotionally arousing way as the lighting and mood made the subject “talk” to its audience. I give him 9.5/10

Assignment 4: The day after- Joiner

Interpretation : “The day after” to me is about the future. It hints at what things are going to be like in the future and that things are going to change.

I took a photo of the construction site of Singapore’s future “Integrated Resort” with the current Central Business District in the background.

Background : When conceptualizing this photo, I visualized the construction of the IR in front of the current CBD so that there is a sharp contrast of a developed cityscape with the one currently in progress.

To get the angle that I visualized, I had to find a way up the Shears Bridge and hope that such a shot can be achieved. In the end, I was glad that the construction site of the IR stretched far out into the Singapore River, enough for me to capture the shot.

Concept : People looking at my photo should get a sense of change and understand that the major construction happening at the massive construction site at marina bay will transform the urban landscape of Singapore “the day after”.

Rank : I give myself 9.3 for this assignment. I like the general feel of the photograph as it captures how Singapore is changing everyday. The different photos fitted together makes the who picture very interesting to look at.

However, I feel that this photo is too conservative and lacks creativity and uniqueness. What I wish to improve is to strengthen the theme "the day after" by expanding the construction site to fill more of the foreground so that there is more focus on the construction site when people are looking at the photo.

Peer evalution : I think that Shena's railway track is very impressive and creative as she decided to enlarge and emphasize certain items like the sign post so that the audience's attention is captured when they start looking around the photograph itself.

The angle from which she took the picture is also ver appropriate as the surrounding vegetation and railway leads the audience's view into the photograph itself. I give her 9.8/10.

Assignment 3: Change - photo essay

Interpretation : The photos that I took show change and progress in Singapore. Many people have benefited from the progress of society but there are also a group of people that are left out by progress. The fast pace of society does not stop for anyone, and only those who can keep up with changes will not be left behind.

Concept : Photo 1 to 4 shows the group of people that could keep up with the pace of change/progress and have stable jobs :







while photos 5 to 8 shows the other group of people who are left out by society and struggling with their livelihood :






I tried to capture people in their natural working environment.

Background : It was not easy to capture people as they are often not stationary. Most of the people are also not happy to let people take their photo especially when they are working.

Rank : I rank myself 8/10 for this assignment.

Peer evaluation : I like YiKang’s photo of Pioneer JC as the photos showed change in a solemn and melancholy mood. It looks very dirty and I can almost smell the place by looking at the trash around. I give him 9.9/10

Assignment 2: Exposure - light, colour, texture and patterns

Pic 1 : "White innocence" Pic 2 : "Fiery Passion"

Concept : Pic 1 "white innocence" shows the softness of the flower taken in the morning, while Pic 2 "Fiery Passion" shows how the flower appear to blaze under the noon sun.

Background : The pictures were taken at different timings in Singapore Botanic Garden so that they would turn out just right.

Rank : I rank myself 7.8/10 for this assignment. The photos made use of the sunlight to give the picture of the flowers their mood.

Peer : I like Yap Jie Ying's photos as her butterfly looks very vivid, and the straw hat gives a very vintage look. I give her 9.8/10

I also like Gerald's photos for this assignment as he managed to control the settings to achieve the intense colour in his flower. He also managed to adjust the exposure setting to get all the details in the chandelier. I give him 9.6/10