chang*

above are my favourites from a recent dance event (most of them from a rehearsal actually, since photographers were not allowed near the stage during the actual run).

i believe i once heard annie leibovitz say on a documentary that dance cannot really be photographed. how can one convey the expressiveness and motion that defines dance by freezing it in a moment in time?

then again, time is the sum of the littlest bits of moments. photography may not be the best medium to represent dance as a whole, but i think it might be the best in terms of showing what others might have missed.

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“untitled no.1″

the above is an example of a fine art photo, if i may be so bold as to suggest that. it is blurry, out of focus, devastatingly cool, titled “untitled no.1″ and you probably don’t get it.

i took the photo above while on a “photowalk” around school with yusuf earlier. to be honest, the only thing that went through my head before i adjusted the settings, framed the shot and squeezed the button was “hey, i think that will make an interesting picture!”. aiya… there, i just outted myself, dang.

i then half-mockingly (i was half-serious) tried to justify why i shot the photo the way i did (artistic statement) – city boy (in skinny pants and white sneakers) treads the line between his urban life (represented by the asphalt) and his desire for a return to nature, to a simpler place (the grassy side).

yeah, right. yusuf didn’t buy it. i didn’t either.

so we have heard of how art, in this case the photograph, can mean so many things to different people. isn’t great when the creator of the same photograph can ascribe so many different interpretations to it, and after the fact? better still, that same guy probably felt something and just wanted to shoot a pretty picture.

it seems like discussions about photography inevitably lead to the topic of fine art photography, and along with that the requisite ridicule and disparagement of that genre. i won’t pretend to “get it”. i am not a fine art student, and i don’t think you will see me rushing to join an art school anytime soon. my only academic exposure to fine art so far was to take the digital darkroom course at adm, conducted by an artist who explained that fine art can be any form of expression, provided that the vision is clear from the start and every step and detail of the process deliberate.

all this so that people can interpret his/her work however they wish. sounds complex and difficult. who makes these definitions anyway? who wants to live by them?

having said all that, i have to confess that i can be constantly found eating my own words (binging on them, as a matter of fact), so you never know.

i guess it is so easy for us to dismiss what we cannot comprehend. there is a matter though that i can’t understand, nor can i dismiss, and that is the notion that photographers have to be labeled this and that – fine art photographer, portrait photographer, press photographer, still-life photographer, documentary photographer, corporate photographer, pet photographer, fashion photographer, landscape photographer, the list goes on…

why can’t a photographer be just a photographer?

the conventional advice is that if you want to make a living at this, you can’t afford to be everything to everyone. if you really want to become good at a particular something, you got to devote all your energy to it.

but then, there are those who say that in a small photography market like singapore, you got to do a little of everything, even if that means selling your soul and murdering your conscience. who to listen to?

the solution? get out of singapore, become a fine art photographer and starve for the first few years. then win a couple of awards and get noticed by a wealthy patron or a gallerist such as james danziger. then you are all set for life.

“untitled no.2″

since we are moving into rather controversial (and dangerous) territory here, i shall defuse the tension by showing you a nice sunset picture and ending this post.

“untitled no.3″ (why is there an ugly canal in the scene? ans: fine art, baby)

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above is a series i shot for my school’s dinner & dance, old tales of hollywood. i am not going to go into the technical details of how this series was shot, like i usually do. you can read about it on my flickr.

instead, i want to record on this space my gratitude to all the people who made this shoot happen. it is true that artistic collaboration can sometimes produce the most surprising results.

so in no particular order, many thanks to hendric and committee for having enough faith in me to do this, as well as handling the styling and logistics in such an impressive manner that allowed me to focus solely on lighting and shooting.

to all the contestants for being game enough to go along with the concept, and for being really spontaneous in front of the camera.

to ahmad for being a very patient and efficient help (owe you one + a lot).

to rui qi, carina and xiao xuan – you girls did such a fantastic job with with the hair and make-up!

and to all the rest who contributed in one way or another, thank you.

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things come in tumbles.

point is, watch this space. there is going to be an explosion of information — content generated during the past week when i finally had to kiss my lazy holidays behind and actually get down to doing some work. not that i did not enjoy it though. i pray and hope that i get to spend the rest of my life wrestling with light, capturing moments and uncovering facts. stu maschwitz at prolost calls taking the perfect photo FML (fact+moment+light). nice acronym but can’t be further from the truth though.

also, i would like to keep this space more regularly updated. more tumbles to the people.

i am actually rather excited that school will be in session again. as usual, i psych myself and promise a semester of toil but my best friend procrastination is seldom long away on vacation. we will see.

so you will.

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