Azmyl Yunor @ BAYBEATS 2007

Azmyl Yunor and the Cigarette (Malaysia)

STENTORIAN @ Baybeats 2007

Iylia, STENTORIAN

BAYBEATS 2007

Yes the annual local music fest, BAYBEATS 2007 is just around the corner. 3 - 5 August 2007, Friday to Saturday.

BAYBEATS is Singapore's own local annual indie music festival at Esplanade. Since 2001, it has sought to showcase good local, regional and international indie bands, give them an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas, and bring to audiences a fun, free-for-all weekend celebration of great live indie music in a variety of sounds such as post-rock, punk, emo, electro and hard rock.

Now BAYBEATS has become one of the most massive and anticipated music festivals in Singapore, hosting bands from countries such as Malaysia, Norway, UK, USA, Australia and of course, our very own Singapore, and drawing a growing audience by the thousands. And one of the best things about it is that it is FREE!

For those of you who love music photography and supports local music, get yr photographic gear ready for this year's big event, big actions. For more details, please log on here.

Hope to see you guys there. Rock on & cheers!

Comments on Photo Clinic

Comments on Photo Clinic (Print Commentaries) 

Three weeks ago, I went to PSS (Photographic Society of Singapore) to attend a Photo Clinic session which they held on every Friday evening from 7:30pm - 9:30pm. It's been months since I last attended. So I thought I went back to catch up with old friends. I've also heard the news that PSS has appointed new community members to run or operate courses, seminars, and photo clinic sessions. So no harm in checking it out.

On my first visit on 29 June, the photo clinic session was conducted on the third level of the building - the gallery room. Unlike the past photo clinic sessions where each PSS member will take turns to showcase their work to the respective instructors, they changed the whole concept by gathering every member or interested listener in the gallery room, more in a seminar style with a digital projector showing members' photographic work. An instructor will be present to comment. Well, it was kind of refreshing to see this new concept of the photo clinic session. They are trying it out for 3 months til September. If it doesn't work, they'll resume to the old traditional ways.

Based on my observations after that three sessions, with my last on 13 July, I do not find any parts of the photo clinic session or any comments the instructor gave so proudly with much enthusiasm, that help us understand the members' work. Even on some rare occasions where they see good photographic work, their praises hold no meaning at all but pretentious flattery. The instructor made silly assumptions by judging the members' work which they did not essentially bother or require the members to explain about their own artwork. I do not see that it helps in the artistic or in this case photographic development of the members, especially those new beginners and/or intermediate and serious amateur photographers.

Related to personal preference is the often-heard comment in a critique "If it were my image I would do this to it..." followed by some advice about cropping it here, straightening there, dodging, burning, etc. The point is, it's not my work. How I would approach a photograph, how I would change it, or how I would print it is essentially totally irrelevant. It doesn't tell us anything about the work as it is. It doesn't clearly tell us anything about the photographer's intent or success. It doesn't help us understand the context, meaning, background, intention, or historic importance of the work. How I would make it, similar to I like it, is a statement about the person who is making the comment. Even if interesting, these comments are meaningless in the context of looking at an exigent photograph.

When you're offering a critique to a fellow photographer, there is nothing of importance or value in these opinions for a photographer to hear. I like it or I don't like it it doesn't tell us anything about the artwork, although it does (again) tell us quite a bit about the person who makes the statement. Frankly speaking, why would you care if I like a piece of work or, for that matter, if I don't like a piece of work. It doesn't make any difference whether or not you like it. Furthermore, such personal preferences don't add anything to the discussion about the work. As the basis for a critique, this is a perfectly valueless statement.

Therefore the only important comments that we can make, the only useful comments that we can make, are about the work as it exists now. There is a great deal we can bring to the discussion - our reactions to it, our interpretations of it, the context, the background - all of this is fair game. But how we would change it in order to improve it seems to me to be fundamentally unimportant, at best, and a silly distraction, at worst. 

Not long after I attended my first session, I came across this bi-monthly magazine, Lenswork* in the local national library. Issue #69 Mar-Apr 2007. I've always been a faithful reader of Lenswork, created by Brooks Jensen. So I borrowed it.

In that issue, there's a chapter written by Brooks titled, Some Comments on Print Commentaries. It's an interesting reading material based on his observations and experiences. The whole article is meaningful, which I find very helpful as it changes the way I see (based on my own experiences too) local photo clinic sessions. I strongly recommend you to read this article.

circa 2007

circa2007: A Photographic Encounter with the Everyday
for Singapore Art Show (SAS 2007) 2 Aug – 8 Oct

About
Circa in Latin means "about" or "around. This photo outreach program is to enable one to pause, to look around and think about our everyday lives, to see the things less ordinary. †And then to communicate that pause in the everyday routine, that sense of "about-ness" through photography, seen through the eyes of Singaporeans.

This inaugural edition begins with our youth; it is Singapore’s most ambitious photographic outreach event, and it serves as a platform for photography as a medium of creative expression on the lives and livelihood in Singapore.
It is also a part of SAS 2007, the major platform for showcasing the breadth and depth of visual arts in Singapore.

We are excited to invite every Secondary School student to participate, and share his or her life, and images of Singapore. Photographs will be exhibited online, in the city and the heartlands.

Goal
1. Education through photography.
2. Telling a Singaporean Singapore story creatively through photography.
3. Finding an Asian photographic identity.

Theme: Singaporean Singapore
Everyday images that occur through both our daily routines as well as the unusual occurrences. Anything from home to school, from breakfast to dinner, from football to CCA, from friendship to heartbreak, all the ins and outs of life in Singapore as seen by the Singaporean youth.

Outcome
1. An island-wide exhibition of the 8 x 10" photographs
2. 10 selected participants will be given a chance to further their photography images by working with established photographers together with student-mentors from NTU and SMU. These 10 students will work on specific themes to showcase their works.
3. An online exhibition for everyone.

How to be part of circa2007?
All registration details can be found on the website. The website will also offer tips on photography.

To participate in the online exhibition, simply register and upload digital images on the website.

To participate in the island-wide 8 x 10" exhibition, follow the steps:

Step 1. Students simply take interesting photos of their everyday lives. If students are keen, they can also attend a free photography seminar led by some of our best photographers.
Step 2. Go online to download and print the entry form. Fill up the necessary details.
Step 3. Go to any participating
photo labs located on the island and do an 8" x 10" print (without borders) for only $2.50 (usual RP $4 - $16). Do bring along your student identification.
Step 4. Send in entries and formatted images on a CD, together with the entry forms to:

Nanyang Technological University
School of Art, Design and Media
81 Nanyang Drive Level 3
Singapore 637458

ATTENTION: IVY WEE
Website: www.circa.com.sg/2007
Contact:

info@circa.com.sg

+65 6440 6328

For more details on participation, please kindly log on here.

If you know of any teenagers who are interested in photography, do encourage them to take part in Circa 2007. I'm not involved in this event but hey I thought it'd be nice to help spreading the words.

All the best of luck!

Music Photography - The Rogue Traders

The Rogue Traders

This a set of 12 photographs, taken on 23 June Saturday night at The Rogues, along Market Street. The band is having a farewell party for their lead guitarist, Chris. Chris is leaving the band and will be travelling aound the world. Perhaps taking a break from work and music. I was fortunate to be invited to their party that night and to take pictures for them.

Hope you like the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. Pleasant viewing. Oh yes! IF you have comments, please do kindly leave them or write me a message in the Shoutmix tagboard. Thank you.

All photographs are taken with a Nikon D70s on Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 lens, with SB-800 flashlight. All color photographs are converted to black & white in Photoshop.

Chris & Pamela

Chris & Simon

Chris on solo

Mark & Simon

Miles & Mark

Miles

Pamela

Renze

Sean in action

Party Time

World In Focus - The Ultimate Travel Photography Contests

National Geographic Traveler & Photo District News

present

World In Focus

The Ultimate Travel Photography Contests

For more information, please log on here.

Eye é City 2006 Public Exhibition & Book Launch

The 2006 event has finally culminated 100 best black & white photographs selected for this public exhibition. A book will be published on this collection. One of my photographs, Moving Out is selected. All are welcome to bring your family and friends for the month-long exhibition. Below is the Chinese version on the event.

Faces and Scenes Photographic Exhibition

Faces and Scenes

Photographic Exhibition

By Turkish EmbassySponsored by

Airport Hotel - Kelsterbach (Germany) and Turkish Airlines

Venue: Level 9 Promenade National Library

(National Library along Bras Basah Road)

Date: 16 June to 1 July 2007

Amateur photographers H.E. Mr A. Bulent Meric, Ambassador of Turkey to Singapore, Mr Ali Erbas, Attaché at the Embassy and award winning young photographer Mr Burak Yetiskin are presenting photography works about various faces and scenes from different cultures and lives.The photographers aim to reflect the vast impressions of human beings and places from various countries in South East Asia and other regions to the public viewers, to open a small window to the world, to reflect the beauty of people and places, their faces and scenes, to capture that scarce moment in time, reflecting an emotion or a theme from their individual perspectives.

Kate of Kale @ Baybeats 2005

Kate of Kale @ Baybeats 2005

I love punk rock and this is one of the local bands I like so much. An awesome band with powerful tunes and intense, emotive songs. Really gets you adrenalized!

This is Kate of Kale. Formed in Dec of 1999, Kate Of Kale has become one of the main-stays of the local music scene after playing numerous major shows including 2 Baybeats festival at The Esplanade in 2002 and in 2005. Built on friendship, hard work and passion for making music, the band has two CDs, 2 Malaysian tours and numerous compilation releases under their belt. Juggling work, school and national service, the band stepped into Snakeweed Acoustic Labs and recorded their latest full-length effort, This Hole We Call Our Heart.

The new record is available in stores, released by homegrown up and coming punk/hardcore label, Fixation Records. First Stance Records of Malaysia has also recently picked up the bands CD for distribution in Malaysia and put the guys on tour with Utarid (KL's most exciting screamo band). The boys are in the midst of recording their 3rd full length album, so keep a lookout at their website.

These are the photographs I took during their live performance at Baybeats 2005. They performed well and I really enjoyed it photographically & musically. Hope you enjoy viewing the pictures as much as I took them. For their live performance, you can check out their alternate website here.

Nikon D70s/18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor/70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED AF Zoom-Nikkor/Lexar Compact Flash Card

Mr. Mohan R.

Mr. Mohan R.

27 May 2007 Sunday. Sunny weather and cloudy. 

I went to the National Stadium to do more photography. Out of my expectations, I was told by the security guard that there'll be an event held in the stadium and no photography is allowed today. To my great disappointment (I woke up early as I wanted to capture the first light at the stadium) I walked towards the East Entrance area outside the stadium, where strong sunlight is shining.

About an hour later,the sun was hidden behind dense clouds, so I waited for it to clear. Suddenly a man stopped right beside me. He's an old Indian man, on a bicycle, wearing LTA (Land Transport Authority) safety vest and helmet. He seems friendly to me. I said "Hi!" to him. He asked me a few questions about my profession and photography. He even wanted to pay me to take photographs of him. I told him that I'm doing it for leisure and hobby.I've always wanted to do environmental portraitures and so I took the rare opportunity and advantage to take a few portraitures of the old man. 

Thought it was my lousy day but it turned out to be a lucky one. Overall I took about 8 shots of the old man. I asked for the old man's name and contact number. He's known as Mr. Mohan R. Mid-60s, married with 2 children whom both are working in Australia. He wanted to send his kids pictures of him as family memorablilia and that was the reason why he approached me. 

Mr Mohan has been working at LTA as a site inspector for 5 years. Currently he's stationed at the construction site next to the National Stadium, for the new MRT station. He was doing his round when he bummed into me. Fortunately I took 2 cameras with me - a Holga 120GN and a Seagull-4A TLR. With street photography in mind, I wanna use Holga, but instead I used it on Mr Mohan. I got no regrets and I have confidence using a Holga for good portraitures with great results, even I do say so myself. 

All photographs were taken with a Holga 120GN on Kodak Ektachrome E100VS slide film. A manual external flashlight is used even under strong sunlight. The 2 main purposes are to freeze the subject in motion and to create catchlights on the subject's eyes.

Garung Guni Man (Prelude)

Garung Guni Man

Yes this is man I've photographed on the last New Year Eve (2006). The photographs you see here are taken much earlier. I think it was in late 2005, during a Street Photography outing organised by Circle of Light forum committee. A couple of friends and I approached this old man. Til this day, I still do not know his surname not to mention his full name. Well everyone has their own privacy rights, don't they?

Comparing these photographs and the latest ones, you can tell how hagged the old man has becoming. I still love all shots that I have taken of him. What's your point of view of this old garung guni man?

You can start writing your comments or point of views in the ShoutMix tag board on the right bottom column of my blog site. Looking forward to hear from you.

Seagull 205 RangeFinder on Ilford FP4 Plus. Scanned and toned in Adobe Photoshop, with minor Brightness and Contrast adjustments and minor dodging & burning.

Unchanged Melody - Garung Guni Man

Unchanged Melody - Garung Guni Man

This is a 70 years old garung guni man whom I've never get to know his name nor his surname. This was my third visit.

He's married with kids. How many? I dunno. I'm sure they are all grown-ups and married. The old man has been working here at Dickson Road (Little India area) for many years. I bought him coffee and we started to chat up. It's always the same old "kopi-tiam" topics i.e. work, health, people and the high-standard of living in Singapore, etc etc. The higher standard and fast living pace really affected him so much. Howsoever, he's able to cope by himself; buying and selling strap junk for a living. Well, of cuz, with some help from his son who happened to be around that day.

The old man's son is friendly and chatty. We talked about the old kampong days in Singapore. As we're talking, the old man takes a break with his cigarette and coffee. Shortly after, his son left. We chatted on for the next 30 minutes. Eventually I requested to take his photographs and he gladly agreed.

Upon taking his portraitures, it occurs to me that life is like a melody with many high and low notes/keys. To this old chap, his melody is unchanged after all these years at Dickson Road, where he's contented with what he got. Or does he?

Well, I guess it doesn't matter to him at all, even on the last day of 2006. The unchanged melody still plays on...

Old & New Favorites - Panorama

Laughing Buddhas

Well, I posted this panoramic photograph on our local photographic forum i.e. Clubsnap forum, on 12 Jan 2006. Since I just started on my new photography blog, I also wanted to share it with every blog reader.

I got the chance to borrow a classic HORIZONT panoramic camera from a friend of mine and took on a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200. One main problem with this camera is light leakage and I was lucky to get this shot without light leakage. Phew! All the photographs I took, were at the mercy of the camera's mechanical fault. You never know what kind of light leakages you will get or how worse it can get.

In fact I took 2 shots of these 2 Laughing Buddha in Waterloo Street. Taking panoramic picture does change the way I see things. As I came across the Laughing Buddha there were lots of people praying and worshipping They touched the Buddha statue for good fortune and good health. The last time I was there on 31st Dec 2005, the old Buddha was still in that spot. Now, it was shifted aside and replaced it with a new varnished Buddha statue. Everyone go for the new one and neglect the old one. Personally I find it pretty humorous and ironic on the other. For your information, the tarnished state of the Buddha statue was due to the countless touchings by prilgrims. The new one symbolizes a good new start in the coming new year. So does favoritism play a part here?

Today is Vesak Day. I wish every reader healthy and happy always.

My New Photography Blog

Since the day I started blogging, I've had many ideas on what to write and post and to share with every fellow photographers and friends. It came across my mind on creating another blog site, focussing on generic photography based on genres like landscape, street photography, still life, portraiture photography, studio photography etc etc.

Basically it's all about my personal photographic work and some experiences to share and to inspire others, too. Of cuz planning and preparing are essential. Finally I got everything set up. So expect more blogs from me soon.

Moving Out

Moving Out

I took this photograph last year at Change Alley, obviously as the sign board stated, in the event Eye The City 2006. This is the picture that got selected for the upcoming publication and photography exhbition to be held at The National Library, some time in early August. Date to be confirmed.

In case any of you do not know about Eye The City, it's a project event that encourages the documentation of social changes, recorded through photographs on the last day of the year to form the collective memories of Singapore from the eye of ordinary individuals. It was my second year participation.

Let me tell you a little about Change Alley.

Change Alley is located in the downtown core of Singapore's Central Business District. The original narrow spot stretched from Raffles Place to Collyer Quay. Unlike its namesake in London where stockbrokers congregated, Change Alley was world famous for its money-changers and inexpensive shopping.

For its history, you can log on here.

Change Alley was officially closed down on 31st December 2006, Sunday. I was fortunate enough to take many photographs on that day and I chose this shot for submission. Preivously I was strolling along the corridor of the shops area and I saw a few shops were still packing up. I talked to one of the shop owners, who has had operated business there for more than three decades. It was really hard on them to depart the place they loved so much. Most of the shops were shifted to nearby shopping arcades to resume their businesses, while others were closed for good. The owner kept pestering me to buy his last stocks at super-low cheap prices. Well I ought to as I mentioned to him about Eye The City and he was kinda freaked out, at the thoughts of documenting the last 24 hours of 2006.

So eventually he refused to be photographed. We shook hands and I went off. As I came down to the end of the overhead bridge, to the ground level, I bummed into an Indian businessman who, like the others, came back to retrieve his own stuff. He smiled and approached to me. "Are you taking photos of this place?" he asked. "Yes I am." I replied. "Take as many photos as you can. This place is closed for good. Today is the last day." he said. Before I could ask for his permission to take a few photographs of him, he turned and walked off. To each his own.

Shortly after, a man with a trolley full of stuff, appeared at the entrance/exit of the bridge. Upon seeing this photographic opportunity, I raised my camera and took the shot. Of cuz, the first was never a good one. Fortunately the man made a couple of trips and finally I got what I wanted.

Homeless Man & No Littering

Homeless Man & No Littering

© 2005 Martin Liew

Homeless Man & No Littering

I paid a visit to the National Library today to check out Eye e City 2005 photo-exhibition. I took part in the event last year and one of my pictures was selected, as shown above. I know this is not related to night photography but I just wanna share my joy with every reader here.

Here's how I came about making this picture:

31st Dec 2005, Saturday morning. I arrived early at Waterloo Street and walking around for some interesting things to shoot. As I took the escalator up a level above the hawker center, I saw this homeless man sleeping soundly on the floor. I walked pass him but as I turned back to look again, I spotted the "No Littering" signboard on the wall. As the wall was curved outwards, the old man's body laid just along the contour comfortably as if he's performing some yoga.

Initially I wanted to shoot the old man as the main subject but upon seeing the whole scenario, it occurred to me that the old man and the sign board have a contrast implications. It somehow creates an awareness of homeless folks wandering and sleeping in the street with no-one to look after them. These people are literally treated like "garbage" and the No Littering sign board speaks for them. Don't neglect these people and their welfare. This can be a serious social problem if attention isn't paid on them.

Nikon D70s • 18-70mm standard lens • B&W conversion in Adobe Photoshop with Level adjustment and minor dodging.

Eye é City 2005

Eye é City 2005:
A Visual Account of the Last 24 Hour of 2005
2005年岁末二十四小时人文记录

This was the fourth year of Eye é City. Through this project, the organiser encourages the documentation of social changes, recorded through photographs on the last day of the year to form the collective memories of Singapore from the eye of ordinary individuals. While for the past few years, they have had being collating photographs of amateurs, novices and professionals alike, and showcased them at exhibitions and in publications. Last year they also invite Secondary School and Junior College students to join in this meaningful event which they hope to see Singapore through the eyes of our young future leaders.

It was my first year participation in this event. It was a fun and fruitful day on 31st Dec 2005 Saturday. Six months later, on 12 June 2006, Monday, I received 2 emails from the Organising Committee. One stated about the launch of photo-book and photographic exhibition which will be featuring the 100 B&W pictures selected for the photo-book. Here the details of the event:

Book Launch cum Sharing Session
新书发布与分享会
Date: 8th July 2006, Saturday
Time: 2:30pm - 5:00pm
Venue: National Library Board, Central Lending Library @ Basement 1
100, Victoria Street

Exhibition Period: 01 - 31 July 2006
Opening Hours: 10am - 9pm

A talk (in English) by Mr Lee Tiah Khee, Chief Photographer of Lianhe Zaobao, has also been scheduled for you on the 29th July 2006, Saturday at 3.00pm at the same venue. Everyone is most welcome with their friends or colleagues to attend this talk to gain some insight on photojournalism.

All above mentioned events are free admission.

The second email is a good news for me. It stated that one or more of my submitted photographs was/were selected to be printed in the photo-book and for the exhibition as well. As a compliment, I'll be receiving a copy of the photo-book. This is really exciting for me! Awesome!

I'll post the selected photograph here on that actual day. Watch out for it!