Photographie; Sty-le

Symmetry

2011-04-20T03:07:00.001+08:00

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

Ai Weiwei, an artist whose work is freedom - CNN.com

2011-04-11T03:26:00.003+08:00

Ai Weiwei, an artist whose work is freedom - CNN.com

I want an IPA Sunny 16 Dog Tag

2011-01-31T16:22:00.001+08:00

Yes! It's true. IPA is giving away this cute dog tag! And yes! I want an IPA Sunny 16 Dog Tag =)

The Mona Lisa Curse

2010-09-02T04:00:00.007+08:00

Ever feel like you don’t “get” the art hanging in museums and selling for millions in auction houses? Watch Robert Hughes’s The Mona Lisa Curse, an excellently crafted documentary about the folly of the contemporary art world (free in 12 installments on YouTube!), and you’ll know you’re not alone.

Once Time magazine’s super-sexy art critic, Hughes, now in his seventies, plays the eloquent but curmudgeonly polemicist in his tightly orchestrated film-essay. With footage of the critic in his 1960s prime sprinkled throughout, the documentary takes us on a journey through art scenes past and present, visiting museums, galleries, art collectors, dealers and “art advisers.” Some of these our narrator clearly despises—his thesis being that the art world is shaped by the world’s largest unregulated market, and not by the quality or content of the art itself. In general, Hughes’s critiques are well posed and thoughtful, and though he doesn’t have many answers, it is nice to know there’s someone on the inside who doesn’t get it either.

(Source: http://www.veryshortlist.com/vsl/daily.cfm/review/1651/Website//?tp)

Reminds me of an old post on the (capitalistic) value of art

Too good not to share.

2009-07-24T00:41:00.003+08:00

Read this article on 10 Photography Quotes that You Should Know. Interesting stuff. Share your views or other quotes that you think are worthy too. =)

Random Sky - Outside My Window

2009-06-27T19:27:00.001+08:00

The window is always a fascinating object that opens up to a whole new world, and yet restricts access to it. Not only does it frame what we see, it also figuratively excludes access once the window of opportunity is closed; there is a spatial and temporal element to it. It stands for dichotomies and/or symbolic exchanges, for in and/or out, for freedom and/or restriction.

Splendid Sunrise

2009-04-27T23:49:00.002+08:00

More sunrise from my multiple nights of doing my research paper.

Sunrise

2009-04-24T06:54:00.008+08:00

The good thing about having your computer table next to the window is that you get to see beautiful sunrise after staying awake for the whole night just to churn out 1/3 of a research paper (and that's not even inclusive of the past few days and nights that I've been frantically trying to (re)organize my thoughts and at the same time, reading up more, which results in disorientating my arguments.

The photos are taken using my camera phone. So don't expect good quality. In fact, the colors don't even come out close to what I see. Just take it from me that the sunrise is grandiose. =)

Telegeneric Realities - An exhibition

2009-04-07T00:46:00.001+08:00

Saw this advertisement on The Online Citizen:

Proudly Presented by 2902 Gallery

You are cordially invited to the opening of

Telegeneric Realities
by Kenneth Feinstein

Opening Reception: 2nd April, Thur, 7pm
This exhibition runs till 16th April

Telegenric Realities is an exhibition of photo-collages investigating how news images are created and used. In this series, images from various news organizations are culled and collaged together. By doing this, both the conventions of the compositions of the images and the underlying messages are brought out.

Kenneth Feinstein is an American raised Swiss educated artist and theorist. His work has been shown in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He is currently teaching media art at the School of Art, Design & Media in the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. This exhibition is his first solo show in Singapore.

For RSVP to Opening Reception, pls email Gisela Sim at photo@2902gallery.com
For more information, please email info@2902gallery.com or call 6339 8655/6339

WEBSITE: www.2902gallery.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39768889774#/group.php?gid=9871157090&ref=ts

Gallery Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday: 11am - 8pm
Sunday: 1pm -6pm
Closed on Monday

(Source: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/04/telegeneric-realities-an-exhibition/)

The (capitalistic) value of art

2009-02-28T02:06:00.003+08:00

What is the value of art?

With the opening of our exhibition, our assistant (student) curator was tasked to put forth the price list for our art work. I personally thought that I would be happy if someone is even willing to pay (a small amount) for it given the nature of my art work (note: this is not the exhibited version). However, my curator thought otherwise and mentioned that I should have more pride in my work.

It becomes my personal interest to highlight the underlying capitalist ideology of art (and pride); pride here is reductively defined as the (opined) dollar-worth - an irony and a mockery. How much is your pride worth? And if you cannot fix a greenback value to your art work, how then can your art work be valued?

I would argue for the inclusion of a form of social-psychological value in that the art raises discussions, and prompts realizations of its social-psychological significance.

That is not to say that currency is not a type of social valuation; money is still, after all, a social tools created by human beings to facilitate institutionalized (capitalist) valuation. It does however shift the valuation of art from equivalence to polyvalence (I use these terms slightly differently from Victoria Grace's interpretation of Baudrillard in that polyvalence refers not only to the presence of multiple exchange values for subject with a certain used value, but also to the presence of distinct forms of exchange values i.e. not only currency, but also social/ psychological exchange.

I wonder if we will then be able to properly 'see' the value of art.

I am Fragmented NOT!

2009-02-28T00:14:00.003+08:00

“[…] recognize that ‘fragmentation’ is neither an experience nor a theoretical construct peculiar to the postmodern moment. Indeed, the fragmentation of subjection is the very condition against which a modernist, well-placed citizen-subject could coalesce its own sense of wholeness.”

~ Sandoval, 2000

If there's anything that I want to say about my exhibition art work, that will be this.

And Random Blends opens...

Till 8th March 2009. See you there!

Cake + Yu Sheng = Huat Ah

2009-02-08T03:10:00.008+08:00

Before we end the 15 days of Lunar New Year, I'll like to wish everyone prosperity and good health. World Peace. *Pose* *Smile* *Wave*

Some Photos from Event

2009-01-24T17:55:00.004+08:00

Volunteered to help out as a photographer for Heartware Network on the Sunday before school starts. And here are some of the photos I took at the First Lego League 2009 at the National Library.

It was quite a fun event with lots of kids as well as those who are young at heart.

Redefining Beauty

2009-01-10T23:26:00.003+08:00

The Dove Evolution commercial by O&M (Elyn!!! I wanna join you there too! =()

If you think that the Dove advertisement is good. This is even betta!

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

2009-01-06T03:39:00.008+08:00

Why do people look better through the mirror? That's apparently what Xiao Pang thinks. Hahah.

I do not have an actual answer but I thought it has something to do with the subject being used to the reversed-image of him/herself when they look at the mirror. That mirror image being reversed is something I learned in physics class eons ago. But the argument also touch on the psychological aspect of our own perceptions. And that is something I have totally no knowledge in. Zero.

(Source: WikiBooks)
I googled (the wonders of Google and the Internet) a bit and found that quite a few people have the same perception. And there are of course numerous explanation other than what I thought. Explanations such as being pose-y, and hence unnatural in front of the camera, to the recognizability of oneself through the mirror mostly, to the camera angle and lightings etc. I still don't know the answer. I wonder.

Inside My Window

2008-12-27T19:06:00.011+08:00

Title: Inside My Window
Description: Inside My Window is a series of photographs taken in the comfort of my bedroom. It takes a peek into my window and see the changes that are going on inside it. Nothing too fanciful - the window serves as an avenue, a literal window to my thoughts as I pare my stare away from my computer screen and look inside the window to rest my eyes and nourish my mind.
Self-Critique: I don't really think the concept is strong enough to stand on its own. I'll see how I can build on it as we go along.

The Result Is Out!

2008-12-27T01:55:00.004+08:00

Slightly overdue but yeah the result is out. And I'm glad that I managed to score an A for the module despite my maiden voyage into photography. Never held an SLR or dSLR before this module, never thought of doing conceptual photography before this semester, I must admit that the journey was fraught with new discoveries, excitements, fears, turbulence, whatever-you-name-it, but it was all worthwhile I guess.

As mentioned, the blog will still function as my photography blog. And for the purpose of that, I have compounded the assignments and exercises under the labels of Assignment and Exercise respectively (so there won't be so many labels).

I've also started a few common labels namely Places, People, Animals, and Object for those photos I take randomly.

There's also the labels of Conceptual and Surrealism for special works that I hope to attempt to put together in future.

Besides photographs, there's also a label Commentary for me to discuss about anything that is art-related. Now I'm not really a professional artist or art critic so these will just be my personal opinions. Feel free to participate in the discourse and then we can learn from one another. =)

I wish everyone a Happy 2009 ahead!

The Eye

2008-12-27T01:27:00.002+08:00

If you think the lift is scary, especially after watching movies like The Eye, then the lift is going to be even scarier - with Adeline standing in the corner instead!

Absolut Disco Outside my Window

2008-12-27T00:49:00.004+08:00

Decided to fool around with my brother's limited edition Absolut Disco seeing that it's very shiny and beautiful. Place it against my black jacket to take it. Also took a random shot of the view outside my brother's window just for the fun of it.

Updates!

2008-12-18T19:56:00.007+08:00

Title: Absolute Fruits

Title: Singapore Evening

Title: Chuch of the Nativity of the of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Title: Statue of Virgin Mary, Catholic Spirituality Centre

HDR Merged

2008-12-14T18:34:00.004+08:00

Took this photo simply because I had the camera and the tripod. I've been wanting to try out the HDR merged function of photoshop but didn't really have the chance. Now this photo isn't really the best example to showcase - in terms of the framing, the location, the scene, etc - but I just wanted to see how much of a difference HDR will contribute to a normal photo.

Taken at -1 stop.

This is the photo taken at the recommended exposure setting by the dSLR. It's a little dark because of the gloomy sky.

Taken at +1 stop.

This is the HDR merged photo with 5 photos taken at the 5 different stops (-2, -1, 0, 1, 2).

What do you think?

Chewy's Day Out

2008-12-13T19:21:00.006+08:00

Today's Chewy's day out so she's allowed to roam the house (under supervision of course in case she repeats her stunt of falling into the drainage hole).

So I tried to take photos of her but she's not exactly a professional model so she keeps fidgeting and it's hard to take a clear shot. But it doesn't matter 'cause she's still cute. And I love the colors of her coat - orange-y red, lime green - always in for all seasons, especially Christmas. For that reason, she's also called Christmas Birdy.

Sleepy Sam's

2008-12-12T01:07:00.004+08:00

Taken at Sleepy Sam's at Kampong Glam. Spent the whole evening there reading Undoing Gender. Pretty nice chill-out place with lots of backpackers. The latte is a little diluted though; McDonald's is better.

I ♥ Chewy

2008-12-11T00:49:00.008+08:00

Took these two photos randomly 'cause I'm bored. The heart shape was found at the Marina Barrage (i wonder who arranged that?) And the Fischer's lovebird is Chewy! =) But Chewy is behind cage now. Haha. So poor thing. Need to let her out more often now that it's holidays.

The video was taken in 2006 using my mobile phone, and uploaded onto YouTube by my friend. Hahah. The bird is always trying to build a nest out of my hair. Crazy birdy.

Updating Soon

2008-12-07T22:21:00.002+08:00

I'll be updating this blog soon (i hope). =) Stay with me!

My Cover Photos for NM3223

2008-11-27T04:25:00.009+08:00

I'm suffering from NM3223-withdrawal symptoms. Not too sure if this is good or bad because this is after all examination period whereby most, if not all, nus students are busy mugging for As or for knowledge or for As to validate their knowledge. Anyway, I thought I'll post my final cover photo which can be seen right below:

The black slit is drawn using the pen tool in Photoshop. And then I edited the lighting with burn tool, translucent light brush strokes, so the photo beneath will be covered in shadows where it's closest to the edge of the slit.

I'm thinking of adding hands that are trying to force the slit bigger but I don't think i'll do that now. I'll probably do that when all the papers are over and done with.

I Saw a Rainbow by Yours Truly

2008-11-22T19:02:00.005+08:00

I saw a rainbow,
Outside my window.
It came in a time,
when life is a slime.
I study for knowledge,
or study for grade.
The difference is subtle,
the difference is great.
I yearn for a meadow,
to roam and be free.
That's why I look out the window,
And saw a pot of gold.
I saw a beautiful rainbow,
It's there for all to see.

P/s: The photo is taken using my mobile phone so it's rather pixelated and unclear.

Point What Art Thou?

2008-11-20T13:18:00.013+08:00

And we've reached the beginning of this blog as my commentary blog for all stuff related to photography and the art. A disclaimer here: I do not see myself as an artist because I do not think I'm there yet. But these are my opinions. Feel free to leave yours as well.

Anyway, in celebration of this new beginning, I shall begin by questioning the value of art. What exactly is art? Dictionary.COM defines it as so:

art [ahrt]
–noun

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.
a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.
the fine arts collectively, often excluding architecture: art and architecture.
any field using the skills or techniques of art: advertising art; industrial art.
(in printed matter) illustrative or decorative material: Is there any art with the copy for this story?
the principles or methods governing any craft or branch of learning: the art of baking; the art of selling.
the craft or trade using these principles or methods.
skill in conducting any human activity: a master at the art of conversation.
a branch of learning or university study, esp. one of the fine arts or the humanities, as music, philosophy, or literature.
arts,
a. (used with a singular verb) the humanities: a college of arts and sciences.
b. (used with a plural verb) liberal arts.
skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature.
trickery; cunning: glib and devious art.
studied action; artificiality in behavior.
an artifice or artful device: the innumerable arts and wiles of politics.
Archaic. science, learning, or scholarship.

The general focus in the meaning is the aesthetic of art, in that it has to be something "beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance". Of course, the definition of what is so changes from time to time, as with all other meanings being slippery in semiotics. And it seems that what is beautiful, appealing nowadays are works that are shocking. The more shocking the better it is. In April this year, a senior art student at Yale University shocked the world by claiming to repeatedly artificially inseminate herself and then induce abortion, using her abortion blood to paint her work. Another excellent example is Russian performance artist Alexander Brener who shitted in front of a Vincent van Gogh painting at the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.

So does that mean that if it's not shocking enough, it ain't a good piece of work? I doubt so. And I quote a passage I read here:

However, we the paying audience are here not to be shocked but to learn about shock, not to see art occur, but to discuss it. A discussion about violence need not always involve violence. That is why we have language: however flawed it may be, language enables us to think about things without necessarily having to enact them all the time.

To me, art needs to provoke thoughts and allow the viewers' minds to finish the work for the artist, for the viewers themselves. The shock should come not from the art itself but rather from the realization of the significance of the art.

Fashion Surrealism

2008-11-20T00:53:00.001+08:00

Inspired by one of my favorite photographers John Clang, I did this shot of myself.

And this shall be my cover photo for my portfolio. =)

Assignment 4; Surrealism

2008-11-17T04:35:00.003+08:00

As much as I argue that a photo of the city skyline of Singapore is a surrealistic interpretation of rural Temasek, I have to make sure I have a backup plan for this assignment just in case. Who knows? Even if the lecturer agrees with my arguments, she may still want me to do it the traditional way just because. =)

So to cover myself, I worked on my original idea and came up with this final version:

I used 4 photos in this work, namely the knife, the trees background, the City Hall, and the sky. I decided to use the photo of City Hall because that building is where the planning of this city of Singapore started. It represents the building of modern civilization on this island and that's exactly what I want to critique in my art work. That our man-made civilization is merely just the human form of say an ant colony, or a beehive, etc. That humans, no matter how ingenious we are, we are still part of nature and we can't escape that. Beneath this facade of man-made achievement lies the destruction of a part of us i.e. nature. And we need to hack through this facade to recognize that nature is bleeding because of our activities. For that, I name this piece of work "Man-made Facade"

Assignment 6; Edited

2008-11-17T01:55:00.002+08:00

I edited my assignment 6 photos to make them look like magazine covers. The concept behind it is still the same; I wanted to portray the fragmented self-identity in that our identities are really multi-faceted and not uni-dimensional. The problem however, with the 'construction of reality' is that we often see everything in categories; if a person is a convict, he/she is a bad person through and through. Or if a person is a humanitarian, he/she is a good person through and through. Not true!

And of course, this 'constructed reality' wouldn't be possible without the media. Here, I took media in its literal form of magazines but I wish to explain that media includes all forms of representation e.g. languages, sounds, music, videos, etc. This construction of our reality is flawed as argued in my assignment 4 on Surrealism in that it is not able to capture the full essence of our existence. And hence, I used the magazine covers to illustrate this mediation.

I will also encourage my viewers to think further about how we often 'judge a book by its cover' and stereotype i.e. essentialize what we see as the most definitive of a character. I implore my viewers to see beyond such narrow framings and experience the fullness of an identity.

Assignment 3; Low Key, Wide Perspective

2008-11-17T01:45:00.001+08:00

Low Key
Title: Magic Mushroom
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/40, f/5.0, 17-85@35mm
Description: Took this photo at Jurong Hill. I increased the shutter speed to 'blacken' the background, which is the Jurong Tower, and the foreground, which is some trees, to capture the lamp. And the lamp is the only thing we see now. Although it looks like a futuristic mushroom or some spaceship.
Self-critique: I think I kinda got the low key photos previously wrong. So I hope this makes up for it.

Perspective
Title: Tunnel to the Future
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/5, f/5.0, 17-85@17mm
Description: I also took another photo with wide angle perspective at the Changi Airport MRT Station Tunnel connecting Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. It makes the travellators seem longer than it really is.
Self-critique: I think I'm obsessed with symmetry. I wonder if that's good or bad or fascist.

Assignment 2A; Depth-of-Field

2008-11-17T01:04:00.001+08:00

Retook the shallow and deep depth-of-field photos so it's actually the same photo with different depth to illustrate the point. This was taken at YST as well and there were some exhibits from 2006 Biennale. The one I took is by Takafumi Hara with his "Signs of Memory: Project Pink Windows". The first window shown here states that we need to walk barefooted to feel the energy of the earth. And so, I decided to take my my sandals and take the photos barefooted. I felt the energy. =)

Title: Deep Pink Power
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 2.50, f/32, 17-85@50mm
Description: Refer to above
Self-critique: Everything seems clear enough to show the deep depth of field.

Title: Baby Pink Power
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/13, f/5.6, 17-85@50mm
Description: Refer to above
Self-critique: I like how it turns out although I think the depth of field can be more obvious. But that's the widest I can go for the aperture.

Assignment 1; Form, Texture, Lines

2008-11-17T00:35:00.001+08:00

Went back to school on Saturday to retake whatever I needed to retake and make my portfolio more presentable (hopefully) with better (hopefully again) shots. I am pretty satisfied with my 'Color' and 'Shape', so I retook form, texture, and lines only. And here they are:

Form
Title: Nyonya Mama
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/4, f/7.1, 17-85@24mm
Description: Took this at the NUS Museum, and they have an exhibit on the Peranakan culture. I was on the look out for angled lightings that will further accentuate the forms of the exhibits and I saw this. I love the intricacies of the craft especially the details on the Nyonya Kebaya.
Self-critique: I think it fits the theme rather well although I would prefer less light from the top and more light from one side of it to further accentuate the form.

Texture
Title: NUSand Dune
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/80, f/9.0, 17-85@73mm
Description: This was taken at the Yong Siew Toh School of Music. I took this previously, but it wasn't focused enough. So I retook the same wall now with better understanding of the camera functions and mechanism. =) I named it NUSand Dune because it looks like sand dune in the deserts but it's taken in NUS, hence the cliche name. But I like it nonetheless.
Self-critique: I must say that this is way better than the first and it really shows my progress throughout this semester.

Line
Title: The Line
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/4, f/25, 17-85@26mm
Description: This photo was taken at the YST as well. I took it lying on the floor to have a full view of the tall wall. There are actually lines within the lines. And that's why I like this shot. The name is rather literal but it's supposed to be intertextual with The Line at Shangri La. Hahaha. I missed the food there.
Self-critique: I like it. Let me know what you all think?

Assignment 4; Surrealism

2008-11-14T17:16:00.001+08:00

Title: A Surrealistic Interpretation of Rural Temasek
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1.00, f/4.0, 17-85@17mm
Description: I'm sure many of you will just condemn me and say that there's nothing surreal about this photo. But please allow me to explain.

Surrealism basically means that it sur(passes-)realism. With this definition then, one will first need to know what is real, and hence realism, before being able to tell what is not real, and subsequently understand that surreal basically means something 'unreal' and yet is strikingly real i.e. dreamlike.

With this framework formally laid out, I shall first attempt to decipher what is real. What is real? This is a question that has bothered many a great thinkers alike. And I opine that it is best summarized in Rene Descarte's first meditation on solipsism in that the only reality I can be certain of is "I exist", famously summarized by his phrase "I think. Therefore I am.".

With solipsism though, it opens up a can of worms, in that we can never be certain about the reality of this world. Indeed, our understanding of this world is so constructed that we can't be certain of what is real. To give a superficial example, how many of us can be certain that the Iraq war really happened? "Wag The Dog" anyone? We construct our reality based on what we learned be it from the media, from our parents, from our friends, from our lecturers, but can they really be certain that what they taugth is real? We learn that this color is red. But there is really nothing intrinsically red about the color. This resulted in different interpretations of the same color by different people even though most people will be able to identify it as red, albeit to varying degrees. Just think about the color-blind. Are they really blind to our colors? Or are we blind to their colors? Even the cameras and the computers need to be calibrated to 'see' the same colors, what's more the human eyes that can't be calibrated. This reminds me of the documentary "Nanook of the North" by Robert Flaherty, in which he commented that the inuit has 7 words for the color 'white'. White that looks the same to us, looks different to the indigenous tribe because that white to them represents their reality; that white represents the different types of snow surface they can or cannot walk on.

Since we can't be certain if what we know other than our own existance is real, how then can we know what is unreal? We can't. And that's when the 'construction' of reality comes in. We start by categorizing items together and call those people with dick 'male' and those people with vagina 'female'. But is it really as simple as that? What about our chromosomes? XY? XX? XXY? Why is it that we have supposed females with 'male chromosomes' and vice versa? It therefore brings about the flaws of "creating this reality". Is it then appropriate to use this 'created reality' to determine the real, unreal, and surreal? I opine not. Nothing is REAL and yet NOTHING is UNREAL. This is perhaps best illustrated by French philosopher Jean Baudrillard in his book "Forget Foucault".

We are then caught in this predicament in that we can't decide what is real or unreal, and hence surreal. And since I need to do so for the sake of this assignment, I shall then move on to look at the history behind the creation of surrealism.

Needless to say, we are all well aware (if you have attended the lecture) that surrealism started of with the Dada art movement that seeked to ridicule 'traditional' Bourgeoisie's art by defacing them. Using this origin as a guide then, I question the notion of 'traditional' in that tradition is simply the zeitgeist of recent past i.e. traditional is in relation to the modern. What is modern 20 years ago will be traditional now. It's the zeitgeist of recent past because anything beyond this period would have been considered ancient. I'm sure many people will not consider the dressing in the Shang Dynasty, which is the beginning of China's history, to be traditional Chinese but rather ancient Chinese.

And with the rich history of surrealism as an art form, and its ubiquity in the recent (the movement sort of died down after WWII but it's still everywhere! Just look at the Singapore Biennale, the NUS Museum, Singapore Arts Museum, etc), it has become a tradition in its own rights. Using the origin of surrealism to defend my work then, I am 'defacing' traditional (surrealistic) art work to create a surrealisctic art work i.e. my photo is actually a surreal interpretation of the sureal. I therefore claim that my photo is actually surrealism twiced-removed or twice-justified, thereby creating a form of neo-surrealism. Doesn't that make it more surreal than all the other surreal works we see?

In terms of surrealist technique as well, the piece employs automatism in that I simply went around taking photo without any conscious self-censorship as to what to take. It's to a large degree free of rational control and it's illusionary when I named it "A Surrealistic Interpretation of Rural Temasek". It distorts our visual senses on how rural Temasek (the olden name for Singapore) is like. Yet at the same time, it critiques the modernity of Singapore in that we are actually quite rural beneath this facade. Just look at how we refused to give ways to alighting passengers in MRT stations, give up seats for pregnant ladies, scream shout and complain, etc. And critiquing the social is, viola, a nature of surrealistic art work as evident in its origin to critique the Bourgeoisie art works by scandalizing them.

With these arguments, I therefore claim that this photograph is indeed surreal and fitted for the theme.

Self-critique: Excellent piece of surrealistic work! I deserve an A for this assignment. =)

Assignment 6; Edited

2008-11-10T00:54:00.002+08:00

I kept the first 3 photos and did some changes to the last 3. The third and forth photo aren't continuous because I thought it will look awkward since I can't put them in a continuous row when I submit my portfolio; I plan to separate the photos into 2 rows with 3 photos each. I wanted to add in shadows of the model on the colored backgrounds but after doing 3, I decided against it. It looks more like a magazine cover shot without the shadows I feel. I'm toying with the idea of making them look like magazine covers by adding in the texts etc. Different magazines for different parts of my self-identity. The magazines I've mentally chosen are Pioneer Magazine, FEER, Sports Illustrated/ Men's Health, Geek Magazine, Vogue Magazine, The Peak Magazine, respectively. I'll see how it goes during critique session first.

Blog Exercise 5; Ethics

2008-11-05T03:26:00.001+08:00

Answer the following questions:

What are the ways readers can judge the credibility of an image even in this era of digital manipulation?

Simple. Visit http://www.snopes.com to find out the truth! Okay, I'm kidding. But sometimes I do check out the site, especially the section on fauxtography to see if a photo I saw on the Net is real or manipulated.

Besides relying on third party to determine the 'realness' of an image, viewers can also do a little self-policing by looking out for repetitions. For example, photos of events may be photoshopped to digitally 'increase' the turnout, making the event seems more successful. In these cases, look out for repetitions. Do note that repetitions may not be obvious i.e. we can copy, flipped the copied image around, and then paste it back to reduce the monotony. Similarly, other manipulations e.g. saturations etc, can be done as well to break the similarity between the copied and pasted parts and the original.

Besides looking for repetitions, it's also useful to look out for unevenness. For example, the heads of celebrities are often juxtaposed on naked bodies. In these photos, it's useful to look out for any signs of uneven skin tone (especially in the neck region). Besides tonal variations, unevenness can also be observed in the lighting, texture, facial-body expressions, etc. of the photograph.

However, even with all these practices I feel that it's often hard to determine the authenticity of any photos in this current age. It's therefore my personal opinion that we take whatever we see with a pinch of salt. The nature of any forms of representation e.g. language, images, etc, is in themselves limiting and hence unable to portray the reality accurately. Even un-manipulated photos are biased due to the photo size and frame limit. Therefore, I feel that we should view and analyze images in a more holistic manner e.g. hermeneutics in order to further establish the credibility.

Imagine yourself as a reader representative for a newspaper. What would you tell a reader who complained to you about a picture of a car wreck that was particularly upsetting?

I will ignore the reader because I believe in press freedom and freedom of expression. Okay, I'm kidding again although I really do believe in total press freedom. I have previously argued with my NM2220-Media Writing tutor regarding objectivity in journalism (you can read my arguments here and here). In summary, I argued for absolute freedom since the portrayal of reality is impossible in any representation (as argued above). And absolute freedom will allow for the voices of minority to be aired. In this case, it is imperative that newspapers act as non-judging moderators to facilitate dialogs between and within the groups to increase tolerance and understandings.

In the given scenario then, I'll explain to the upset reader that the publishing of the photo is necessary evil to convey diversity and that I welcome him/her to write in regarding his/her views on the accident so as to prevent such devastating event from reoccurring in future.

Assignment 6

2008-11-04T16:25:00.001+08:00

Conceptual Photography. For this assignment, we are supposed to take 6 conceptual photographs depicting something that is ubiquitous and common but in a conceptual way.

For this assignment, I decided to work on my self-identity as we've learned in last week's lecture that for a person to become a successful artist, he/she must work on building a strong self-identity. However, I realize that self-identity is often fragmented and conflicted. And what most artist seems to do, is to suppress their alternative identities and concentrate on building one singular identity in order to create powerful pieces of art.

Since I aspire to become an artist, I believe that it'll be good if I can recognize my identities for a start. And hence, this series of photographs; they are supposed to run from left to right but I can't arrange them so in this vertical-scrolling blog. So please try to picture them in a horizontal arrangement. I shall let the pictures do the talking.

Okay. Now that you all have seen the photos, I shall briefly describe what each of them represents and why I did it this way.

I wanted to show that a part of me is proud to be a Singaporean. I took a photo of myself in my army uniform standing at attention facing a Singapore flag, which was photoshopped in. The extreme smartness often demanded in the military reflects a certain pride.

On the other hand, a part of me hates the rigidity of being a Singaporean and how oppressive this country can be. Sparing all the political arguments, I wanted to show my displeasure with this country by the 'intent' to burn the flag. My desire to be in a foreign country is shown by wearing clothings reflecting the temperate climate.

A part of me also loves sports. I especially enjoy running as it gives me a certain high aka running high. I love to think about issues when I run and it's the only time I can be 'free'. I motion-blurred the left side of the photo to reflect the running motion. The muffler around my neck on the previous photo is seen flying in this photo to depict the speed of the movement.

The forth photo shows the nerdy side of me. I don a checked long sleeve shirt fully tucked in and fully buttoned up to increase the dorkiness. I photoshopped in the scanned cover page of one of my favorite textbooks that is the Theories of Communication by Severin and Tankard. This book is joined to the next photo with the cover of Vogue magazine, which is a magazine I love reading as well. The cover is specifically chosen because it features my favorite model Ms Carmen Kass. I took this photo top naked because I felt that such shots are ubiquitous in many fashion magazines with the model covering their naked bodies with their hands/arms or with a piece of cloth. I also showed my tattoo, which I felt represents a part of me as well.

The last photo, which is the least successful shot in my opinion, reflects the serious but yet pretentious side of me. I can be very serious at times when it comes to work or certain issues e.g. feminism but at the same time I'm quite pretentious in my outlook. I try to portray a positive image by smiling and looking fine even when I really wanted to scream or cry at times. Personally I find this identity rather difficult to portray given its conflicting details. I also can't think of any possible linkage between this photo and the previous one.

Edited: Marcus suggested that I can do the "passing of baton" in my running shot, and the baton becomes a ruler in my nerdy shot to connect the two. He also suggested carrying a fashionable bag in my fashion shot, and the bag becomes a formal business bag in my last shot to connect them. I think these suggestions are fantastic. I'll see what I can do about it. =) Thanks to Marcus!

Down with Fever

2008-10-25T23:15:00.001+08:00

I can't believe I was (and am still) down with fever during this crucial period of the semester. I took my medications, slept till around 7pm today from around 6pm yesterday, waking up in between for more medications, water, and toilet breaks. This sux. But it serves to remind me that life is not just about attending lectures, studying, scoring good grades, which reminds me of Thursday morning when I missed 1/2 hour of lecture because some drivers apparently decided to knock themselves out at the entrance of NUS near Singapore Polytechnic; it took me 2 hours 45 minutes to travel from home to school. I guess I don't live in Singapore then since according to our great leader "the maximum time to reach any corner of Singapore is 20 minutes as traffic is not allowed to flood the roads" (Gangan, 2007).

My first reaction was cursing and swearing that he/she caused the traffic jam and in turn made me miss part of my lecture. But the self-reflexive and critical me criticized myself for having such immoral and socially undesirable thoughts. We're talking about the potential lost of lives here due to the accident. And yet the most important issue to me there and then was the missing of lecture. I ponder. It reminded me of the article on The Straits Times many years ago about how Singaporean children fear failing examinations more than of their parents dying (Mathi, 2000). I wonder if this is the kind of individuals (myself inclusive) and society our education aims to inculcate.

Gangan, S. (2007, October 31). City influx shocks Singapore panel. DNA - Daily News & Analysis. Retrieved 25 October, 2008, from Factiva database.
Mathi, B. (2000, November 21). Most children worry about failing exams. The Straits Times. Retrieved, 25 October, 2008, from Factiva database.

Random Shots

2008-10-21T01:24:00.001+08:00

Alright, this post is outside the scope and assignment of this module but I thought I'll just post some of the photos I took throughout the whole process of walking around searching for potential shots. And I shall start with posting the photos of my fellow photographers who will roam the streets with me mostly.

Title: The Photophile

Title: Le Modelle de Photographie

Assignment 5; Edited

2008-10-21T00:46:00.001+08:00

Happy, cheerful, satisfied, delighted, joyful
Title: Technicolorful Satisfaction
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/8, f/4.5, 17-55@28mm
Description: This photo was taken at Sakae Sushi after having our supper buffet. We specially requested the waiters not to clear the plates to show our consumption, and hence our satisfaction. As you can see, we were very satisfied.
Self-critique: Clearly depicts the adjectives I feel.

Peace, serene, calm, harmonious, tranquil
Title: Silent Night
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 8.00, f/3.5, 10-22@10mm
Description: This photo was taken at Kallang River, near the Indoor Stadium. You can see the city in the far background, with few clouds in the sky being reflected clearly on the river. This reflection depicts the serenity of the night with peace and tranquil while the people sleeps. The clear weather adds on to the calm.
Self-critique: I think it suits the theme too. =) What do you all think?

Assignment 5

2008-10-20T12:55:00.001+08:00

For this assignment, we are required to create 2-4 photographs (without using “human expression” as subject) that depicts the following adjectives sets:

Peace, serene, calm, harmonious, tranquil
Happy, cheerful, satisfied, delighted, joyful
Progressive, active, advancing
Lonely, abandoned, desolate, solitary
Sad, gloomy, miserable, depress, solemn
Chaos, disorder, turmoil, mess

And so I went out with friends (Yz and CG) around the island after an early Saturday (8am, 18 October, 2008) makeup lecture at NUS Business School. The lecture ended at 11am.

Takes to CG who drove, we went to quite a few places. The places we went to include Bidadari Park (the now exhumed cemetery), Japanese Cemetery, last kampong in Singapore (Gerald Drive, near YCK road), Changi Village, and the Changi Airport.

And here are my photos:
Peace, serene, calm, harmonious, tranquil
Title: Pot of Gold
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/500, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description: This photo happened by chance. I was on bus service number 10 along Pasir Panjang Road, and I happened to see this rainbow across the sky. I had to take it there and then as the bus was moving.
Self-Critique: I like how the rainbow turned out although I think the composition could have been better. I think it's quite fortunate that the lamp post on the right actually helped to frame the photo and balance off with the trees on the left. I think the rainbow depicts this adjectives set well because rainbow is often associated with the moment after the rain. So the weather is calming down and there is tranquility.

Happy, cheerful, satisfied, delighted, joyful
Title: Chocolate Whee-u
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/3, f/32, 17-85@85mm
Description: This is a zoom-shot taken outside Downtown East. It's the only indoor Ferris Wheel in Singapore. And you can see the huge Cadbury logo advertising in the center; chocolate is always very delightful and satisfying.
Self-Critique: The zoom shot is taken without any tripod, which explains the shaky-ness. I thought this could be improved on. But then again, It seems like everything is very digitalized these days, and I seem to be taking shots that are very symmetrical, straight and lacking fun. So I thought maybe this shaky-ness will add to the fun-factor.

Progressive, active, advancing
Title: Formula L1ght
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1.60, f/4.0, 17-85@17mm
Description: This is taken on top of Telok Blangah Hill Park, on the bridge that connects the three hills (Kent Ridge Hill and Mount Faber). This is actually a past photo I took previously and not specifically for this assignment. This was taken during the Formula 1 weekend and the light emitting from the center (city) is the lights they used for the world's first night race. I'm not really a fan of the race and I find it a waste of electricity but I guess this is the very shallow definition of progress and advance many people have.
Self-Critique: I'm not too sure if this photo successfully depicts the adjectives set though after the critique session.

Lonely, abandoned, desolate, solitary
Title:Pointless Death
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/100, f/5.0, 17-55@33mm
Description: This is a photo of a tomb stone in the Japanese Cemetery. The words actually mean "war dead" literary and the tomb actually belongs to a Japanese soldier during the WWII. I find that it reflects the theme because the tomb is badly maintained and this juxtaposes with the idea that the soldier supposedly died a 'glorious' death fighting for his country. My idea is that all wars are pointless. And no matter how people try to justify their acts of violence, it'll all end up with nothing. Just like the forgotten soldier. Abandoned and lonely.
Self-Critique: I really like this photo although it is commented that people who don't know Chinese language may not be able to decipher the meaning. Perhaps it might be better if I can use other ways to depict this theme.

Sad, gloomy, miserable, depress, solemn
Title: Demise of the Sun
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/1000, f/14, 17-85@85mm
Description: This is a typical sunset scene. I adjusted the contrast and shadow to make it darker. The idea is that sunset, while beautiful, is always transient and represents a certain impending death/ doom. It's therefore sad and solemn. In fact, sunset has been used to symbolize death in Shakespearean plays.
Self-Critique: I find that this is a rather typical shot. I hope to work on it to create more extraordinary shots.

Chaos, disorder, turmoil, mess
Title: Digital Chaos
Technical Specifications: ISO 200, 1/13, f/10, 17-55@55mm
Description: Took this photo at a computer junkyard in the last kampong in Singapore. I added splashes of colors to add to the chaos and to enhance the 'digital' effect, which is highlighted by the CPU body.
Self-Critique: I think it's an okay work. Not fantastic though.

All comments are seriously welcomed so I will know how I can work on this assignment further. =) Thank you in advance.

Blog Exercise 4; Singapore Biennale 2008

2008-10-12T02:39:00.001+08:00

Well, we're supposed to go for the Singapore Biennale 2008 and then comment about it. The problem is, my friends (Yaozong, Chen Guo and Edmund) and I already went for it before this exercise is mentioned. So we don't really have many pictures of the Biennale to post as we comment about it. But I'll just attempt to comment and maybe post whatever pictures I have or take photos of the nice guide book I got if necessary. Much apologies for that first. So here goes:

1. Give a general comment of your impression of the exhibition as a whole.
I think that the exhibits really bring out this year's theme of wonder; many of the exhibits intrigue me to wonder (verb) about how it was done e.g. Zhan Wang's Stone to fill the Sky, what is the 'reality' of our world, and why is it so etc. And a number of them do so by creating wonders (noun) - yes, wonders are socially constructed as well, there is really nothing intrinsically wonderful about wonders if not because people are socialized to think so if you get what I mean. But I digressed.

The philosophical nature of this theme and the exhibits wondrously coincide with not only this photography module but also with NM4212 - Media & Representation. It is therefore easier for me to relate to some of the works better. My only gripe about it is that some of the exhibits took the theme too literally (I shall explain this further in part 2 for the piece of work that is rather unsuccessful to me).

2. Select two pieces of work
(a) Successful
The piece of work that really intrigues me is Deborah Kelly's Beware of the God.
(Source: http://backspace.com/notes/images/god_opera.jpg)
2ai. Content of work
It's really a very 'simple' beaming of the text "Beware of the God" but the underlying mechanisms prove to be intricate.

2aii. Presentation methods
The text "Beware of the God" was beamed onto the clouds on the first weekend when the Biennale started (I think). And it's unlike the unilateral, one-dimensional sign of batman beamed onto the Gotham sky in the movie but rather, a transient projection that depended largely on the clouds (the presence of it, the density, height, position in the night sky etc).

It intrigues me because of the multi-layered meanings underlying it. Firstly, the text itself makes one wonder - why should we beware of God? Which God? Also, the nature of the presentation meant that it's almost ephemeral, like an epiphany (as described in the guide book). The role that nature e.g. the cloud plays in this work suggests something about God or such 'heavenly' sign; something along the line of say creationism? That everything is created by God? But then the technical aspects that allow for this work also suggest that God is actually created by men? That perhaps religion is only a social construct or mass ceremony like nationalism? The text to me, also point to the many problems of religions e.g. extremism (all religions e.g. Ku Klux Klan of Christianity, al-Qaeda of Islamism, Aum Shinrikyo of Buddhism, etc). This work definitely makes me wonder!

(b) Unsuccessful:
The unsuccessful piece of work for me is Kiran Subbaiah's Blind/ Hello I am/ While the mouth is still full

More about this artist can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/antikiran/index.htm

2bi. Content of work
A video of Subbaiah talking to the viewers through the video-camcorder, reminding us about the delayed projection, how he may not be in front of the camcorder at the very moment we are watching, how the video of him is not really of him per se, but rather a representation of him at that point in time, etc. It actually goes deeper into the issue. But generally the idea is so.

2bii. Presentation methods
Videos of himself talking to the viewers through the camcorder, projected onto a wall in a warm humid room without any seats.

Personally, I felt that the message that he is trying to deliver is very clear when we watched the video. But I also feel that it's a rather direct way of doing so with him talking to the viewers through the camcorder, reminding us of what's the reality or what's not etc. The blatantness of such a presentation to me reduces the mental labor of viewers; we are made to think but not think further. I would prefer if the presentation was done in a more indirect/ abstract manner although I personally can't think of any way to do so. That's the irony of this critique. Perhaps than, this critique can be seen as a positive compliment in that he managed to get his points across effectively? *wonder*

I also found this interesting link when I googled Kiran: http://ammoc.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/singapore-biennale-2008/. And I quote the post:

"Hello, I am Jo. As I am typing this post, I am Jo and I am real. But you are not real, I am lying to myself that you are the keyboard, making sense of my keystrokes. At this moment, I have power over you, I can type nonsense and I can make you repeat my wordswordswords.

Hello, I am not Jo. As you are reading this post, I am not Jo and I am not real. But you are real, you are lying to yourself that I am the words on the computer screen. At this moment, you have power over me, you can click on the X on the righthand corner and make me disappear."

3. Comment on the various ways of presentation methods (framing, size, use of space etc.)
Overall, I really like how certain pieces of work make use of the space in the creation and presentation. For example, One Thousand Year Bloom by E Chen made use of the vent to hide the yarn machine, Black Monday by Sergio Prego actually staged a detonations inside the chamber of City Hall where his work is displayed, Everytime We Say Goodbye by Tang et al, who used charcoal to draw the walls in South Bridge Development to create rather surreal rooms, etc. In fact, many works considered the space given to them. And that's what I really like about the this Biennale.

Walking Up the Stairs

This is part of the work of Tang et al, whereby they charcoal painted the walls to create visual tricks. Pardon the lack of focus for this shot. I took it without tripod at the shutter speed of 1.30 'cause the room is very dark.

Blog Exercise 3; Analyzing a Picture

2008-10-06T00:18:00.001+08:00

For this exercise, we are to choose any image from one of the 3 genres of photograph from recent publication (newspaper, magazine, online).

I decided to choose back the same photo I analyzed for my NM4212 - Media and Representation mid-term essay since the analysis vary greatly with the purpose; my analysis of it for NM4212 varies with my analysis of it for NM3223. And here's the photo:

Title: Police attempt to separate pro-Tibet pro
Description: Police attempt to separate pro-Tibet protesters (L) and thousands of Chinese supporters (R) outside Parliament House during the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay through Canberra on April 24, 2008. Pro-Tibet protesters demonstrated against China's role in Tibet and the Olympic host's human rights record as the flame made its journey around the capital.

AFP PHOTO/Torsten BLACKWOOD (Photo credit should read TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP/Getty Images)
24 Apr 2008

(Source: http://www.daylife.com/photo/0668e338Mzbjc/human_rights_%2B_beijing)

Formal Elements of Photography
Light quality
The photo was probably taken in late morning or late afternoon where the sun is still bright but is at an angle from behind the photographer. This explains why the shadows are slanted and elongated into the deeper depth of the photo as opposed to a directly-above-the-head noon sun.

Flash might have been utilized although I doubt so since the sky is rather clear and the sunlight actually created a harsh lighting (evident from the reflection on anti-China flag (bottom-left).

Texture
The overall texture of the photograph tends to be smooth although the texture of the main anti-China flag mentioned above seems to be glossy and wrinkled.

Focus
Deep depth-of-field is utilized with a sharp focus on all details in the photograph so as to provide the context of the protest; the building in the background is the Parliament House of Australia in Canberra.

Angle of View
The photograph was taken at eye-level by the photographer, who seemingly acted as a nonpartisan observer of the protestation in a bid to portray the objectivity of the news coverage perhaps.

Framing or Composition
The two groups of protesters are separated in the middle by the policemen in the photograph i.e. the photographer chose to send in the 'middle' with the policemen to frame this image. However, the accompanying news reporting actually stated that the number of pro-China protesters way out-numbered the anti-China protesters. Hence, it shows that the photographer wasn't really standing in the middle but rather chose to framed it so to capture both camps.

Colour
The dominant colors here are red (the main color of China's flag, and also Tibet's flag), yellow (Tibet's flag) and blue (Tibet's flag and the sky). If you notice carefully, an Australia flag is present as well in the background of the Anti-China protesters camp, possibly signifying that Australia is pro-human rights as well.

Any saturation done to the photograph would be minimal so as to preserve the realism aspect of the photograph.

Interpretation of the Photograph
Given that this photograph belongs to the genre of photojournalism, it is to be interpreted for it's realistic representation of the actual event. Such interpretations are based on the historical, cultural, social context. Taken on March 24, 2008, prior to the hosting of the Olympics by China, and in the wake of all the crackdown in Tibet, the Darfur incident, etc, it shows how some people are against China while others are supportive.

Given the location of the event as interpreted by the presence of the Parliament House in the background (the knowledge of which is also culturally determined), the aim of the protestation can be linked to political motives - to pressure the Australia government to not attend the opening ceremony as symbolic of being pro-human rights? This cannot be verified but the news article pointed a more obvious reason for the location - the Olympic torch was slated to pass by there on that day.

And here's my analysis of the photograph for NM4212 (it's not very well written in my opinion but it's still good for comparison I guess):

About the Author

Signs do not have intrinsic meanings in them; meanings are dependent on the socio-cultural-historical context (Hall, 1997, p.2 ). Similarly, the formation of interpretant in Pierce’s Triadic Sign Model (as cited in Chandler, 2005) acknowledges the role of interpreters. It is therefore appropriate in my opinion that I briefly attempt to construct my own identity in my futile effort to analyze the image as transparently (im)possible. In doing so, I hope to denaturalize my identity and thus, denaturalize my analysis of the image.

I am a Communications and New Media [CNM] student at the National University of Singapore [NUS]. I have taken Sociology modules in NUS and was exposed to the ideologies of democracy in (module code) SC2214 – Mass Media & Culture. I was brought up in a Singaporean Chinese family where my father is a Buddhist while my mother remains a devout Christian. I am currently doing NM3223 – Digital Photography and Imaging and NM4212 – Media & Representation, in which I am exposed to the concepts of representations, etc. It is for the latter module that I analyze my selected image.

Prologue

Before I go into the analysis of the representation, it may also be of interest to recognize the endless abyss of acculturation just so I am able to distinguish the colors, the syntactics if I may, between them to form a mimetic representation, and in turn allows me to interpret the product of this representational system i.e. photography as a photographic image and not a painting, or illustration, etc.

The image I have selected is a photographic image of two groups of protestors outside the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. The photo is taken by Torsten Blackwood for Agence France-Presse [AFP], a global news agency and is dated 24th April 2008. Hence, the photo falls under the genre of news photography, which subconsciously or almost invisibly demands people to interpret it with reference to the conventions of this genre; it is a representation of the reality i.e. the actual occurrence of the protestation and not just a fictitious event. The photograph is to be interpreted for the reality effect of its content, the underlying social meanings and influences, etc, and not so much on its artistic values, or photographic technicality.

My Analysis of the Image within the Module Framework

Objects do not carry their own meanings i.e. meaning is not intrinsic in object (Hall, 1997, p.3). The flags, the uniform of the policemen, the blood-dripping Chinese flag with the Olympics circles beneath, the heart-shaped Chinese flag, etc, do not mean anything intrinsically; their meanings are socially constructed through history and cultures by relevant authorities. For example, the Tibetan National Flag is resultant of the modifications of military flags by His Holiness the Great Thirteenth Dalai Lama, the then-ruler of Tibet (The Office of Tibet, 1997) while the heart-shape, which is a contemporary signifier of love, has a more dubious origin (McDonell, 2006). That the change in the signified from sex to love (Ibid) shows that language (in its broadest definition) is slippery yet sticky. The symbolic flags of Tibet and China also index the definition of representation that the objects the symbols stood for can actually be absent; Tibet and China do not really exist philosophically but are rather the sociological constructs of people. Similarly, both countries did not really “exist” beyond a certain historical timeframe with China existing as various dynasties. The same can be said for all the signs present in the photographic image.

Meanings are relational. This aspect of meanings is visually epitomized by the portrayal of love versus hate, pro-China versus anti-China, pro-human rights versus anti-human rights, Tibet versus China, etc, in the photograph. Such relationships are shaped by the knowledge that I possess. For example, my identification of the relationship between Tibet and China is resultant of my knowledge of the conflict between them. And my interpretations of what they mean are altered by the events that are outside my control i.e. the crackdown of the Tibetan protestors in Tibet by the police and army of the government of the People’s Republic of China (e.g. AFP, 2008; Dow Jones Newswires, 2008).

Foucault (1980, as cited in Hall, 1997, p. 43) also posited that meanings are grouped in ideological clusters to reflect the power relations; the meanings of being Chinese, or being pro-human rights, or being anti-(Beijing) Olympics are being grouped together and they reproduce the power relations of the ‘western’ democracy and ‘eastern’ communism. Both groups of protestors are being subjugated in their respective political ideologies; it ignores the possibility that the identity is multi-faceted e.g. Chinese can be pro-Olympics but pro-human rights as well.

My Analysis of the Image within the News Genre

Objectivity in news reporting is a highly sought after value as I have learned in NM2220 – Introduction to Media Writing. Similar to what post-structuralism posits, I opine that journalistic objectivity is only a theoretical construct that can never be achieved. Rejecting what general semanticists prescribed to achieve objectivity (as cited in Severin & Tankard, 2001), I preferred the definition of objectivity by Christiane Amanpour that it means “giving each side a hearing”. In that sense, the photograph is analyzed to be rather ‘objective’ since it presented both sides of the story with both camps of protestors. However, a quick search on Factiva database for news regarding the protestation shows that the photograph depicted a rather biased point of view since the number of pro-China supporters greatly outnumbered the pro-Tibet camp (Australia Associated Press [AAP], 2008) as opposed to a seemingly equal turnout for both camps. This may reflect the photographer’s and/or AFP’s political inclination towards democracy and human rights i.e. the power relations of the company and/or the political ideology of democracy underlie the representation. It could be simply due to the restrictive nature of the representational system though (the cameraman was not able to capture everything in a single photograph)?

Having never been to Canberra, Australia, I did not know the locality of the event; it was the accompanying-caption that availed me to the location. This shows that the reading of a text takes place in a certain cultural context, outside which it will be difficult for us to interpret the signs meaningfully as desired by the photographer. Similarly, it shows the non-intrinsic nature of signs; the building in the background does not carry the intrinsic meaning of the Parliament House of Australia. This also supports Saussure’s argument that language is not a function of the speaker.

Being assimilated into the cultural context with the knowledge of the location, I am able to further interpret the photograph and link up the meanings of the various signs. For instance, the event is not simply about two groups of protestors with different political ideologies clashing, but also what they hope to achieve through their protestations? The location of the protestation i.e. outside the Parliament House signifies to me that the protestation perhaps wants to influence the Australia’s government decision to not attending the opening of the Olympics or to boycott it? It turns out that this interpretation is incorrect as well; the protestation took place there because the Olympic torch relay was scheduled to pass there (AAP, 2008).

Besides the location of the photograph taken, I also noted that all the policemen in the photo are facing the pro-China protestors instead of possibly alternating to face the anti-China protestors as well. I interpret it as that the pro-China protestors were deemed to be more dangerous? Since a person is unlikely to back-face any forms of danger unless they are running away from it. Perhaps people who are anti-human rights are more likely to attack fellow humans? Are the policemen thinking so because they have been subjugated by pro-democracy ideologies?

The grey Olympic circles instead of the usual 5 colored circles found on the anti-China protestors perhaps signified the dulling of the Olympic ideologies when the hosting right was awarded to China? However, the fact that I am still able to recognize them as the Olympic circles highlights the role of the interpreter who is me.

About the Author Really!

Going through the analysis of the image, I noted how I am being subjugated by the signs to interpret them in ideological clusters. It constructs my reality of pro-China and anti-China protestors as how they are anti-human rights or pro-human rights respectively etc. This consciousness brings forth the unconscious of the analyst who is me that I have been brought up to favor the existence of a “gray” world rather than a dichotomous black and white. It explains why I feel that democracy and communism both have their pros and cons. It is likely than that this analysis reflected more about me than the photographic image. After all, I am also living within this social system.

Reference List:
Agence France-Presse. (2008, March 11). Monks arrested as police quash protests in Tibet: Report. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved September 11, 2008, from Factiva database
Australia Associated Press. (2008, April 24). Officials expecting peaceful torch relay. AAP Bulletins. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from Factiva database
Chandler, D. (2005). Signs. In Semiotics for beginners. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/index.html
Dow Jones Newswires. (2008, March 11). China police tighten security in Tibet’s Lhasa; Major protests. Dow Jones International News. Retrieved September 11, 2008, from Factiva database
Hall, S. (Ed.). (1997). Introduction. In Representations: Cultural representations and signifying practices (pp. 1-11). London: Sage Publications Inc.
McDonell, K. (2006, February 14). The shape of my heart: Where did the ubiquitous Valentine’s symbol come from?. Slate. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from http://www.slate.com/id/2136191/
Severin, W.J., & Tankard, J.W. Jr. (2001). Problems in encoding. In McGeehon, P., & Greer, M. (Eds.), Communication theories: Origins, methods, and uses in the mass media. (pp. 91-107). United States: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
The Office of Tibet. (1997). The Tibetan national flag. Retrieved September 10, 2008, from http://www.tibet.com/flag.html

Assignment 4; Version 2.1

2008-10-05T21:34:00.002+08:00

The critique session on my Surrealism work proved to be fruitful as I get to see what my fellow tutorial mates are doing. I must say that I am impressed by a few of their work, namely Marcus's, Kitty's and the one more I don't know her (think it's a her 'cause she presented to the other group instead of mine when the class split).

Anyway, as I have kinda felt prior to presenting my own work, it wasn't really surreal enough and it doesn't convey the concept well. The concept is strong though as commented by the tutor and I was given a few suggestions on how I could work to improve it.

I decided to do a little trompe-l'œil (pronounce tromp-loy if I'm not wrong), which means to trick the eyes; I hope it's quite successful. This technique is actually quite widely used in surrealism as we've seen in a few works during lecture e.g. the And here's the version 2.1 of my Surrealism work.
Title: Man-Made Facade
Technical Specifications: N/a
Description: Basically this work shows a cleaver chopping through the photo of a prominent building (can't remember the name of the building though). Beneath this photo, is a photo of trees against a red (bloodified) sky as opposed to the beautiful blue sky in the building photo. I used the pen tool to draw out the desired shapes and warp the photos to create the effect that it's curved up. Shadows are also added to create the 3-dimensional effects. Green chains (brushes) are added around the photos to signify that no matter what human claims to have created, we're still restricted by nature. We wouldn't have been able to clone sheep if there's no sheep in the first place. We wouldn't have been able to build high rises if there's no sand in the first place. Nothing that we claimed to have created are truly created since they are created using whatever are given by nature.
Self-Critique: I like how the trompe-l'œil turned out with the shadow of the cleaver creating a nice 3D effect. I need to work on the warping of the main photo though so that the image is not warped out of position but will still flow continuously like one photo. Other than that, it's quite okay to me. I hope you all find it surreal.

Let me know what you all think! =)

Assignment 3; Close Up

2008-09-29T01:27:00.003+08:00

Title: Ahh Have Something To Say
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/15, f/5.6, 17-85@53mm
Description: Took this random shot of Edmund while we were waiting for our food from the tze char store at Changi Village. He wasn't really saying something; he was posing 'cause Chen Guo and I were playing around with the settings (Monochrome, Portrait, etc.) of the camera and I wanted to try the effects.
Self-Critique: Looking at the close up shots of my fellow course mates, I kinda felt that mine wasn't really close-up enough. But I was thinking about the various shot types that I learned in NM3208 - Designing Content for New Media and I thought that some of their shots are more extreme close-up in that sense. I'm not too sure. Perhaps there's a different between photography and videography.

Anyway, if you all are interested in the various shot types, I found this website that has rather neat explanations and examples. It's Here!

Blog Exercise 2; Surrealism

2008-09-28T17:39:00.001+08:00

René Magritte's The Rape
Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/surrealism_desire_unbound/5.L.htm
I was surfing the net for Surrealism and I realize that when it comes to René Magritte, a surrealist artist, people always seem to talk about "The Son of Man" more than they talk about "The Rape".

Personally I though that "The Rape" epitomizes the ideology of surrealism in that it allows the flourishing of the subconscious and brings this subconscious to the foreground. It seems that sex is something that is always on people's mind and often in this patriarchal society, men look upon women as sexual objects rather than as fellow human beings although this is kind of at the subconscious level. The Rape brings out this subconsciousness and shows it in one image how women are being perceived by superimposing the image of a naked female body on the face of a woman; the breasts becomes the eyes, the belly button becomes the nose, and the vagina becomes the mouth. This stark image forces the viewers to deal with the subconscious in the face (every pun intended). The painting is rather simplistic in style and details and yet rich in meanings and details at the same time.

It's interesting why this image doesn't get as much attention as The Son of Man. I can only guess that it's because the subconscious is often more crude and dark than the conscious and people are often unwilling to come face to face with their inner most dark secrets. In a way, it's ironic that even in surrealism where we unleashes our inner most desires, we are also oppressing it to hide from its gaucherie.

Assignment 3; Symbolic of the Sun

2008-09-28T17:27:00.001+08:00

Title: Sun-Glass
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/4, f/4.0, 17-85@17mm
Description: Again, this image is taken at Jurong Hill Tower; it's actually the ceiling of the tower. The center of the tower has this beautiful glass mural ceiling light although it's a little dirty. Emanating from the ceiling light are pillars of rays. And it aptly symbolizes the sun for the tower visitors at night.
Self-Critique: It seems that I'm always looking for such rays light images when I think of the Sun. Haha. Perhaps it's the child in me that still retains the drawing style? But this is a rather impromptu photograph like the previous one as I didn't really plan for it to happen. I thought that the photo would have been better though if the class mural is cleaner without the black sports.

Assignment 2A; Slow Shutter Speed

2008-09-28T17:16:00.001+08:00

Went out with Chen Guo, Yaozong, and Edmund yesterday night for movie, dinner and random photography. We weren't really thinking about the assignments for this module; we were just enjoying the process of taking photos and hanging out.

Anyway, we went up to Jurong Hill and I experimented with the slow shutter speed, zooming in and out, and rotating the camera on the tripod all at once. And here's what I got:

Title: Fiery Orchid
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 8.00, f/22, 17-85@17mm
Description: The lights in the photo are actually the lights from Jurong Island. I took it with the camera mounted on the tripod set to a slow shutter speed of 8 seconds, and I rotated the camera while zooming in and out at the same time. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to rotate the camera in 360 degrees, which explains why the top right corner is actually dark. But this also created something like an orchid to me. =)
Self-Critique: It's not really an impressive shot but I feel we should always experiment and have fun while taking photos. And I thought that this spirit is well captured in this photograph. One improvement I can think of is to maintain better coordination between my zooming and rotating of the camera. This way, the curves of the lights will be smoother/ rounder and not with jagged edges.

Assignment 4

2008-09-27T16:10:00.001+08:00

From this assignment on, we have moved forward to the artistic and conceptual aspects of photography rather than the technical aspects. For a start, we are required to create a photo-montage based on the main theme of "Urban Phenomenon" or the subtopic of "Urban Fantasy". I've been looking forward to such assignment since I'm not a very technical person. But this proves to be very much harder than what I anticipated.

For a start, I don't really have any strong knowledge on surrealism. So I tried to read up on it even after the crush course during lecture. And I ended up getting more confused by the likes of Freud, Trotsky, Lacan, Breton, etc. Psychoanalysis, unleashing of sublimated sexual desires, anti-women, etc.

I especially enjoyed reading this following article since it's dealing with feminism, an issue that I'm rather passionate in. The article is titled "Surrealism, Freud and Trotsky".

Anyway, after so much reading, I'm still quite lost about this whole idea of surrealism. But I went about taking photos and PhotoShopping them nevertheless. And here's what I've got as of now

Title: Human Supremacy
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/10, f/5.0 17-85@26mm (main photo)
Description: For this assignment, I wanted to create a surreal building or human being by combining the supposedly man-made building with nature, or by creating a tree-man of sort. The underlying ideology behind this piece is "human supremacy". It seems apt that we name our urban landscape as man-made while our primary forests etc remain natural. But underlying this naming is the ideology of human supremacy that we as human can create things. The truth I feel is far from that. In fact, what we 'created' are natural as well since humans are nothing more than a natural living thing. It's funny why a bird's nest that's built by a bird is considered natural while a building that's build by humans is considered man-made. That's the ideology of human supremacy. Once this ideology is torn apart, we realize that we are nothing more than part of nature and that whatever we do will have its repercussions on us.

Anyway, so I went around the campus taking photos of trees with beautiful bird's nest ferns, dragon's scale ferns, and textured barks. And then I tried to take photos of myself topless in contorted poses against a plain wall using the timer function of the camera. I cropped out the wall since I wanted a black background, and adjusted the colour saturation, hues, etc, to create a greenish-bluish skin. I also adjusted the saturation of the photos of the plants to create bright green leaves. Parts of these photos are cropped out and imposed onto my hand, body, face, etc. And I ended up with this image.
Self-Critique: Some how I don't really find this piece surreal. I think I look more like some sci-fi swamp thing than a surreal being. I realized that my skin becomes very noisy after adjusting the saturation even though I shot the photo with an ISO of 800 (see I learned from my mistake after the last incident of forgetting to change the ISO setting). But since, this is still something I created out of scratch, I thought I'll post it online as well while I try to create something more surreal. Wish me luck!

P/s: Cg, I know u're going to tell me "No. Shan't!" so I'm just going to preempt you by posting this note. Haha.

Assignment 1; Colour

2008-09-27T00:37:00.002+08:00

Took this photo today at SDE's Co-op. Finally something bright and cheery in dull NUS. =)

Assignment 3

2008-09-24T02:53:00.001+08:00

For this assignment, we are required to play with the focal length to experience with the 2 extreme perspective, zoom shot, and a close-up. We are also to play with the sensor latitude to take a high-key and low-key photograph respectively. And then we can explore the 3 metering settings on our own, and finally take a photo on the theme "Symbolic of the Sun". Here are my photos:

Perspective - Wide Angle
Title: Food Street
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/250, ff/22, 17-85@17mm
Description: I took this photo of the touristy food street at Chinatown across the road. A car happened to drive pass when I snapped the photo and the car turned out to be freezed in the center of the photo.
Self-Critique: I don't really like the composition of this photograph. The shot might be nicer if the HDB flat behind the left row of shop-houses is gone. I'm not too sure if the squeezing of the depth is obvious to people who are not familiar with the place. I realized that the perspective is shown clearly with daily subjects i.e. subjects that we are very familiar with so any distortion in representation due to the camera lens is very obvious. But still I guess it's worth a post since it's wide angle as well.

Title: National Museum of Singapore
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/5, f/4.0, 17-85@17mm
Description: This photo is taken outside the National Museum of Singapore around 6pm. I was seated on the grass patch in front of the museum when I snapped this photo. You can see my fellow group mates busy take photographs in the shot as well. =)
Self-Critique: I like how the blue sky compliments the orange-y building and this reminds me of NUS corporate colors.

Title: National Museum of Singapore Two
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/3, f/4.0, 17-85@17mm
Description: Took this photo of the National Museum across the road.
Self-Critique:

Perspective - Narrow Angle
Title: Civilian War Memorial
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/2000, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description:
Self-Critique:

Title: Church Aisle
Technical Specifications: ISO 1600, 1/5, f/7.1, 17-85@85mm
Description: I took this photo at the Cathedral of the Good Shepard, across the road from the Singapore Art Museum. I took one wide angle photo at the same spot as well but I'm not going to upload it on this blog since I already posted 3 photos with wide angle. So here's the one with narrow angle instead. =) The church is actually rather huge but it's been 'compressed' in this photograph.
Self-Critique: I like the symmetry of this photo and how it shows the lens distortion due to the narrow angle. Somehow church architectures love symmetries and I guess that's why I tried to take photos of the various churches I went to today in symmetrical composition. That doesn't mean that asymmetrical photos of churches aren't nice or what (I've seen some that are really beautiful). It's just that I like it the way it is built. What do you think?

Zoom Shot
Title: Buddha's Might
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 0.80, f/22, 17-85@85mm
Description: The zoom shot is quite interesting to take. I realized that if you zoom too fast, the whole imaged will be blurred. But if you zoom too slowly, the effect is not as obvious. However, in order to make the center focus of my image clearer, what I did was to hold for a while before zooming out. This photo is one of the more successful ones with rather obvious effect.
Self-Critique: The face of the Buddha, which is the focal point is slightly blurred though.

Title: Buddha's Might Two
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 0.50, f/18, 17-85@85mm
Description: The face of the Buddha is clearer in this photo. However, the effect of the zooming out is not as obvious.
Self-Critique: Personally I prefer the effect of the first photo but I like that the center is relatively clearer in the second photo. Perhaps I'll need a few more trials and errors before I can get the photo I desired.

Close-Up
Title: My Best Friend Adel
Technical Specifications: ISO 1600, 1/6, f/5.6, 17-85@59mm
Description: I took this photo of my best friend Adel at the coffee shop while we were having coffee. She's been my closest friend since secondary school (that's more than 12 years). Although I have to admit that I did a lot of touch up to cover her freckles. Hahaha. Hi Adel! If you're reading this blog, you're busted! =)
Self-Critique: I like that it's very natural and not pose-y. Can't criticize much since she's my best friend. Haha.

Sensor Latitude - High Key
Title: Kingdom of Heaven
Technical Specifications: ISO 1600, 1/800, f/10, 17-85@38mm
Description: Took this photo of the Saint Andrew's Cathedral and I tried to make it a high key photo by opening the aperture and reducing the shutter speed. Because the building is white and the sky is rather filled with white clouds, I wanted to create an impression that this is the kingdom of heaven or the castle of God. I wanted the clouds to join with the building in a mesh of whites. I took a few photos and this is one of the most successful ones.
Self-Critique: I like how this photo turned out. I have a problem with the symmetry of the photo though. I wanted a photo that is perfectly symmetrical since the cathedral is rather symmetrical in structure. I made sure I stood as close to the center of the building first before I tried to take the series of photographs. Unfortunately this one still turns out to be slightly skewed.

Title: Kingdom of Heaven 2
Technical Specifications: ISO 1600, 1/800, f/10, 17-85@38mm
Description: This photo is pretty much the same as the one above.
Self-Critique: I like that this photo is more symmetrical than the previous one. But I thought that there are too much dark shades at the bottom of it, making it less pristine and pure in that sense.

Sensor Latitude - Low Key
Title: Laying the Ball
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/200, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description: This photograph isn't meant to be a low key photograph. We were at Marina Square in the late evening around 7pm, and we happened to see this street basketball tournament going on. I had originally wanted to take a freeze frame of the basketball player laying the ball, but the indoor lighting was rather dim. And this is how the photo turned out.
Self-Critique: Although it's pretty low key, I don't think it fits the purpose of this assignment. After all, it should be intentionally low key. But I thought I'll just post this photo first and then I'll retake a new set of photos. Till then. =)

Title: Sad Angel
Technical Specifications: ISO 1600, 1/4000, f/20, 17-85@59mm
Description: This photo is taken at the Armenian Church. It's actually the tomb stone of Baby Sarkie, a baby who was born and died on the same day. I thought the angel looks very sad and that's why I took a low key shot of it.
Self-Critique: I realized that all the photos I took today are very noisy. That's when I realized that the ISO is set to 1600. I am sharing the camera with Jessie and I took over it today and started taking photographs without checking the settings first. This is my mistake. I hope the noise is still acceptable. If not I will have to retake quite a few photos. Orz

Title: The Prayer
Technical Specifications: ISO 1600, 1/1600, f/5.6, 17-85@47mm
Description: I took this photo inside the Armenian Church. It's actually the silhouette of Chen Guo holding a tea candle while saying a prayer.
Self-Critique: Again, this photo is very noisy. Arrgh. Stupid me.

Symbolic of the Sun
Title: Sunny Stairs
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/160, f/11, 17-85@53mm
Description: Took this photo of a spiraling staircase at the Ann Siang Hill Park. I was just walking around with Yaozong, Chen Guo, Mabel, and Zhi Yun, looking for subjects that symbolize the sun when I saw this spiral stairs. I looked down and see that it resembles how kids usually draw the sun with a circle and alternative shades of orange rays. That's why I tried to take a photo of it. It's actually quite hard to take as I had to stand as far out as possible to the corner of the stairs, using one leg to hook on to the holding bar while trying to take a top-down view of the stairs. The class's comment basically was that the circle is blurred. A smaller aperture was suggested to make sure that everything is clear. They also suggested zooming out a little so there will be more rays so to speak. The problem is that if I zoom out, I'll see plants in the photo as well (look at the next photo).
Self-Critique: I agree with the class that it will be better if the circle is clear as well.

Title: Sunny Stairs 2
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/100, f/22, 17-85@35mm
Description: This is a photo of the same spiraling stairs but it's zoomed out slightly more.
Self-Critique: I like that the circle is clear as with the steps. I originally find the plant very distracting, but then I thought that plants rely on the sun to grow. Maybe it's good in that sense, to show the plants in this photo then? What do you all think?

Assignment 2A; Edit 1

2008-09-24T02:34:00.001+08:00

Chen Guo commented that my freeze frame for assignment 2 doesn't really show the idea of freeze frame clearly as it's just a pair of feet in the air; I could be lying on the ground with my let's up. I looked at the photo again and feel that his comment has proper merits. And since I have some other photos of freeze frame, I thought I'll post them online as well and see what you all think.

Fast Shutter Speed - Freeze Action
Title: Tan Kim Seng Fountain
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description: Took this photo at the Esplanade Park. I remember how I cleaned this fountain as part of my school's community service when I was in primary 6? or was it secondary 1?
Self-Critique: I like the composition of this photograph. Instead of taking the whole fountain, I took half of it and push the structure to the right so I can capture the water flowing down. The water droplets are not too distinct though because of the distracting foliage in the background. But the background is blurred with the depth-of-field. So it's still pretty decent for me.

Title: Tan Kim Seng Fountain Too
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description: The same fountain but I turned slightly to the right because I wanted to take the angel? with her harp.
Self-Critique: I actually preferred the first photo because I feel that the composition is better and more balanced. Perhaps because it's more vertical than the second photo.

What do you all think?

Assignment 2B

2008-09-23T02:54:00.001+08:00

Assignment 2B is the first time I actually get to experience being an event-photographer as we were required to take photos of our fellow course-mates during their tutorials, and during CONTRAST - a 24 hours Game Design Competition. It was indeed an eye-opening experience as we had to make our subjects comfortable with our presence so they will act naturally in front of the camera. In fact, we received complaint from one of the participating groups for Contrast that the flashes were disturbing them. So it's rather challenging to take decent photos since we have to compromise between the poor lighting and not using flash.

Rather than just presenting my photos as per normal, I framed them up using PhotoShop CS2, rotated them to various angles, and added shadows behind to make the presentation more fun. But for the sake of this blog, I'll use the original photos so you all can view them in their original size. And here are my photos for NM3217 Tutorial:
Title: Friendly Tutor
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/20, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description: I took this from a far distance so as not to disturb the interaction between the tutor and the student. The image is actually cropped to remove the distracting details around the action. When I presented in class, there is a poster above Joshua's (the student) head. I digitally removed it as requested by the class to make it more pleasant.
Self-Critique: The photograph definitely looks better after cropping. The interaction between the tutor and the student also helps to promote the department as well. The only comment is that the tutor looks as young as the student so it's quite hard to tell unless there's a caption to say so. But still, the photo is pretty decent for brochure I feel.

Title: Exchange Student
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/15, f/5.6, 17-85@56mm
Description: I wanted to take a photograph of her because she's the only Caucasian exchange student in the class. I was taught in my other class that photography/ film technologies were developed by the whites and are criticized to favor the whites, making them look more angelic and prominent as compared to people with darker skin tone. So I decided to take a photo of her and see how it'll turn out. I have to agree with the critique to a certain degree. People with fairer skin tones do look better in photographs. What do you think?
Self-Critique: I like how she's smiling and with one hand on her face and the other one the mouse (behind the keyboard). It shows that she's doing something on the computer and she's enjoying it.

Title: Watching After You
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/40, f/2.8, 17-55@55mm
Description: Nearing the end of the tutorial, I decided to take a photo of the rear mirror that's supposed to facilitate the tutor to monitor whether the students are paying attention in class or using the computers to do their own stuff. It's more of an experimental shot since I think most of the photos for brochures look rather generic in-your-face kind.
Self-Critique: I feel that this photograph can be better if the reflection is clearer, more in focus I guess. It might be the curvature of the mirror though and the large aperture that resulted in the shallow depth-of-field. Other than that I'm pleased with this photograph.

Title: Full Attention
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/8, f/5.6, 17-85@85mm
Description: I was trying to take a photo of this girl who sat alone at the last row of the media lab. She was fully concentrating on her work and then I think she noticed that I was trying to take a photo of her? Or maybe it was just my imagination. But anyway, she turned slightly and I caught the shot. Her complexion is rather fair so I decided to add a little pinkish glow to her face.
Self-Critique: I think this photo turns out pretty well. The slight off-focus actually helped to give her a softer look. I'm not too sure if it's suitable for brochure though since the working details are not present to show that she's working on her tutorial.

Here are my photos for CONTRAST:
Title: Watch Your Time Guys!
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/25, f/9.0, 70-200@144mm
Description: The lecturer in charged of this competition was in front of the class to remind them that the judges will be coming soon. And I decided to take a photo of him giving his speech with the stop-watch projected as the background to give the context of his speech. It helps that he's rather good looking. =) Many of my friends in NYP were crazy over him when we were still studying there.
Self-Critique: I thought the photo would be better if I am able to take the whole time behind. I actually took one of the same scene in landscape but there are some computers around that make the photo a little cluttered with distracting detail. If only I can shift those computers away. Other than that, I'm okay with this photo.

Title: I Draw
Technical Specifications: ISO 800, 1/30, f/5.6, 17-85@80mm
Description: This girl can really draw! She took less than a minute or so to complete this drawing using the tablet. I had to take a photo of her to show the kind of talent we have taking part in CONTRAST. The focus here is on the computer screen rather than on her. So her back view is actually blurred in the foreground.
Self-Critique: I think the photo is a little off-focus when I view it in full size; it would have been better if the computer screen is clearer.

Assignment 2A

2008-09-21T20:41:00.001+08:00

Finally managed to get my photos from Yaozong. I found out that Canon's cameras are quite fussy. I couldn't transfer the photos directly from 350D to my computer via the cable; I needed a CF card reader, which I don't have, and that's why my photos ended up with Yaozong. Thanks Yz!

Canon 400D works seamlessly for me. I am able to transfer the photos directly from the camera using the USB cable, and I can work on the CR2 files with my PhotoShop CS2. Apparently, the newer CR2 format used by 450D cannot be read by CS2 although it works fine with CS3, which I don't have as well. So yeah, 400D works best for me. =)

Anyway, back to the assignment. For assignment 2A, we are required to just experiment with the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

For the aperture, we are required to take 2 photos with large aperture and small aperture to create photos with shallow depth-of-field and deep depth-of-field respectively. And here's my photos (I actually accidentally deleted all my photos and these were retaken on the Sunday before our presentation on Monday):

Shallow Depth-of-Field
Title: Phalaenopsis
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/100, f/5.0, 18-55@44mm
Description: Having accidentally deleted my photos, I decided not to cry over spilled milk and took the camera out again on Sunday afternoon. I knew that I will not be able to take photos anywhere far from home so I started taking the moment I step out of my house. And these orchids belongs to my neighbor. She seems to love orchids (botanically known as Phalaenopsis) a lot. And all her plants are very well-groomed.
Self-Critique: I like how the purple flower stands out from the blurred green background. But I don't really like the composition of this photo. I'd love to remove the orchard on the right but it's not very nice of me to destroy my neighbour's effort. It does satisfy the definition of shallow depth-of-field though with the focus here being the orchids in front of course.

Deep Depth-of-Field
Title: Swings
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/20, f/18, 18-55@55mm
Description: Looks familiar to you? No, you're not suffering from deja vu. I went out with Yaozong to take the photos together since he's staying near me as well. That's why our photos all turned out to be similar. Maybe it's time we go on our own? -_-? But if you remember, his photo of the swings depicted a shallow depth-of-field. Mine showed a deep depth-of-field. You can see that even the terrace houses behind are relatively sharp.
Self-Critique:This photo turns out fine for me I guess. Although the dull weather kind of made it look rather gloomy for a place that's supposed to be filled with joy and laughter; it's a playground no? But I guess swings are sometimes filled with melancholy as well - think of all those movie scenes showing a dejected person sitting on a swing, swinging dejectedly while looking down. That's the kind of feeling I get from this photo.

Slow Shutter Speed - Panning
Title: Swing to the Dusk
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/8, f/29, 18-55@34mm
Description: I was trying to think of possible subjects to take around my estate while seated on the swing. And I was looking down at my feet forlornly when the idea struck. So I decided to take a photo of my legs while swinging. It was quite fun and yet challenging since I had to use my left arm to grab on to the swing while trying to stable the camera in my hand. A few tries later, I got this image.
Self-Critique: I really like how the photo shows movement in the panned background with my legs still remaining rather clear. And it's definitely fun trying to take this photo. Who says school assignment can't be fun too?

Slow Shutter Speed
Title: Fountain of Life
Technical Specifications: ISO 100, 1.00, f/32, 18-55@38mm
Description: This photo was taken at a koi pond near my estate. I was looking for subjects to freeze and I thought that water is a good subject. I took a few photos with fast shutter speed but they turned out to be rather bad. Freezing the water sprinkler made it look ugly somehow; it doesn't have the soothing effect. So I decided to take one with slow shutter speed. And it gives a rather soothing, out-of-this-world kind of feel to the image. Kind of heaven-like?
Self-Critique:I don't really like the composition of this photograph though. I thought I should have turned a little to the left so the fountain will be more off-center, and the green plants will be able to frame the left and bottom-left as well.

Title: Ray of Light
Technical Specifications: ISO 100, 20.00, f/20, 18.55@55mm
Description: Took this photo on an overhead bridge near my house. I wanted to take a photo like this when I knew we have to take a photo with slow shutter speed - I was reminded of Madonna's Ray of Light music video when I see the assignment. The overhead bridge is located along a flyover so there's no lack of traffic. But still, numerous tries were needed in order to get a decent photo where all the lanes are used. It reminds me of how photographers like to control lights. If only I can get the cars to move in the way that I want them to. Hahaha.
Self-Critique: I feel that this photo is just a normal photo to show the technical aspect of the assignment. It's not really phenomenon or whatsoever.

Semi Fast Shutter Speed
Title: Spring of Youth
Technical Specifications: ISO 100, 1/30, f.5.6, 18-55@55mm
Description: This photo is of the same koi pond. As mentioned above, I experimented with the various shutter speed to see what kind of photos I can get. This one turned out fine - better than those with super fast shutter speed and yet not too dreamlike like the one above.
Self-Critique: I don't think it's fantastic, but I think it's a decent shot. I'd give it a 6/10 perhaps? What do you all think?

Fast Shutter Speed - Freeze Action
Title: Up In The Air
Technical Specifications: ISO 400, 1/640, f/4.5, 18-55@34mm
Description: Again, I took this photo while I was seated on the swing. Besides the panning shot that I tried to take, I also tried to freeze my feet when the swing was at its highest position.
Self-Critique: I think the composition would have been better if the tree behind wasn't sticking out of my feet. It will give the shape of my feet and slippers a nicer definition. Maybe a brighter shoes might make the photo more interesting? A shoes ads perhaps? It's fun nevertheless.

Okay. So here are my selected photos for assignment 2a. I feel that I want to retake a few of them to improve my portfolio and brush up my skills as well. Let me know what you all think please. Thank you in advance. =)

Beauty Redefined Photo Competition

2008-09-11T00:09:00.001+08:00

Being the pro-gender equality activist that I am, I shall help to promote the Beauty Redefined Photo Competition launched by AWARE.

What is Beauty? We want your views!

1 in 2 Singaporean teens believe they are too fat. 8 in 10 want to change the way they look. 1 in 5 would consider plastic surgery.* Why? Because our society narrowly defines what is considered beautiful with 24/7 advertising, digitally-altered photographs, and models that represent 1% of the human race.

AWARE challenges budding photographers to expand society's limited definition of beauty by taking your own photographs of beautiful people and submitting them to AWARE. Creative, new interpretations of beauty are encouraged. A 100-word statement about why the person featured is beautiful should accompany each entry.

Top entries will be featured in the AWARE Beauty Redefined Travelling Photo Exhibition at the public libraries, in a Zo Cards campaign, and in the AWARE 2009 calendar. Prizes for top photographers.

For more information, please visit AWARE's website @ http://www.aware.org.sg/

Assignment 1

2008-08-30T13:13:00.002+08:00

For this assignment, we are required to take photos of form, shape, line, colours, and texture and present 2 of each category in class as a group. With this assignment, we were finally off to the much anticipated process of taking our own photos.

As we're required to submit our own individual portfolio at the end of this semester, I shall post my own photos for each of the 5 categories instead of just showing what we had presented in class as my group mates' photos are also inside.

So here are my own photos:

Form

This photo was taken at the carpark at University Hall. I chose it because of the nice backlight that cast the shadows to bring out the form of the pipes.

This photo is also taken at the University Hall. It was drizzling the whole day and my friends and I didn't really have a choice but to take photos indoor. The moment I saw the sprinkler, I knew I wanted to take a photo of it because it looks like a metallic flower to me. However, I don't think the photo turned out as well as I hoped. I guess it's probably because the sprinkler is rather 'thin' unlike the solid pipe above.

This is actually another form that I took. It's actually the gear chain of a mini race car designed by the Faculty of Engineering (not too sure exactly which branch of engineering though). Personally I feel that this will be a better representation of form if not for the fact that I kind of took it with a wide aperture, which I learned in the subsequent week's lecture that resulted in a narrow depth of field.

Shape

This photo is taken at FOE as well. It's part of the roof structure. The orangey-red light actually came from the setting sun and I really like how this photo turned out. My group mate says it looks like a domino but I prefer to think of it as a balance, kind of like a rectangular version of the yin-yang diagram. I always feel that life is about finding a constantly changing balance.

This second photo about shape is actually the ceiling of the University Hall. I like the circular vent and how the light forms a circular halo. If you look closer, there's a small circle at the top-right corner as well; I didn't notice this until after I saw the photo on the computer. This thought me to pay more attention to everything within the frame in future. If I have noticed it during the shoot, I might have shifted the camera angle slightly (approximately 15 deg counter-clockwise) so that the vent will be lower and the small circle will not be in a corner.

Line

This is a photo of natural lines. The tree is almost bald and I hope to capture the idea of dying against the dull gloomy sky. I'm not too sure if it fits the topic well though since it might be better if I can just zoom in on the tree branches to depict the lines.

This photo is taken at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

Colours

I like to think of this photo as the galaxy of colours. =) The idea struck me as I was desperately looking for colourful subjects to take in the dull NUS campus. And then I was reminded of how white light is dispersed by prism to form a spectrum of colours. So I thought I'll take a photo of the OHP light. And this is how it turned out.

It's quite hard to miss these colourful seats in the Central Library. And since we couldn't really find colours in campus, I simply took a photo of this.

Texture

This is the texture formed by water on a bench. I took it nearer to eye level instead of top-down like what Yao Zong did (his photo turned out nicer and we used it for our group presentation).

This is the texture of the wall inside the YST Conservatory of Music. It turned out a little blur and seemingly out of focus. I used the macro lens to take this shot with the widest aperture because it was dark at night and the yellow lights in the building didn't really help to illuminate much. But this is the only other texture that I can use in the photos that I have taken.

Personal Critique
Since this is the first time I used a DSLR and take photos, I'm quite proud of myself although I don't really like most of the photos. I feel that there is still a large room for me to improve, especially with manipulating the aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc, to get a desired photo.

Let me know what you all think of these photos, how I can improve them etc. =) I'll thank you all in advance. Thank you!

Blog Exercise Une

2008-08-20T17:08:00.001+08:00

For our first blog exercise, we are to look through the online resources and comment on the photos. The three online resources provided are:

Since I do not really know much about lighting, shutter speed, and aperture, etc, I shall not comment on these technical aspects, and focus more on my personal thoughts instead. This is somewhat inline with what I feel about photography and photographs; it's the impact of the sentence that matters, and not the grammatical and tense conformance (although these helps at times).

What is Photography?

As I browse through the photographs, I started thinking about the meaning of photography. According to Dictionary.COM, photography is defined as "the process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light or of other forms of radiant energy, as x-rays, gamma rays, or cosmic rays." I can't help but feel that this definition is too technical and superficial.

Although most people will think of photography as capturing a moment in time and representing it in a photo form, I feel that photography is not just about the moment but rather the aspect(s) of the moment that the photographer sees (by coincidence or by choice) and wishes to highlight.

Using the 1st Prize Singles for Spot News (World Press Photo of the Year) as an example, the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was seen by the photographer as a chaotic moment and he captured what he saw (or wanted to see) in a blurred image with fires and smokes. However, a different photographer (perhaps one who is anti-Bhutto) might choose to see the moment as a celebration of victory (fire and smokes too?) and capture a wildly different image.

Hence, photography to me is a mean of expression for the photographer’s own point of view rather than simply reproducing the images on a sensitized surface. Underlying each photograph are the cultural aspects, personality, religious beliefs, political views, etc, of the photographer. This is perhaps best photographically exemplified by the winning photo of the First International Photographic Art Prize “Arte Laguna” in which the photographer “encourage viewers to question whether the world is really the way we see it, the way we believe we see it, or perhaps a construction of our perceived environment”.

Context Matters
Reading the descriptions of the various winning photos, I also felt that the context in which the photographs were taken matters as well. This is perhaps best illustrated by John Moore’s photograph of a young woman visiting her fiancé’s grave on Memorial Day.

(source: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/05/27/us/20070528_MEMORIAL_slideshow_1.html)

That her fiancé died fighting a meaningless (for the Americans) Iraq war, and that she is just a young girl created a greater meaning of how young lives are destroyed. A similar photo of an elderly matron moaning her deceased husband who died a natural death at the ripe age of 90 probably would have less impact.

Audience Matters Too
Audience viewing the photographs matters in that they will interpret the photographs based on their own backgrounds albeit under the guides of the captions. An American audience would probably be more affected by the above photograph than say a Singaporean audience.

Personal thoughts
Personally, I like to see photos in its totality from the conceptualization to its execution to its presentation, and not merely as a 2-dimensional representation. I guess that's why I prefer fashion photography to journalistic photography as it allows the photographer more space to exercise his/her creative concepts and ideas rather than leaving it to chance to capture a newsworthy photo.

Whether or not that makes me a fascist is something I will always wonder.

In any case, to conclude this post I shall post something I read on Today Newspaper few weeks ago when a photograph won the UOB Painting of the Year competition:

Ironically, while today’s public perception still considers photography a lesser cousin of painting, it’s an issue that makes Terrence Yeung yawn.

The freelance curator who’s on the curatorial team for the coming SIPF said it’s an old and outdated point. Especially since it’s been around for a century or two.

The idea of capturing and representing reality as perfectly as possible, which was how photography came about, is “the realised dream of the Renaissance Man”, said Yeung, 37.

In other words, owning even the lowest end model of a Canon Ixus would have been Leonardo da Vinci’s wet dream.

Then again, as Yueng pointed out, whether it’s a paintbrush or a camera, they’re all just tools. Creativity is what separates the artist from the hobbyist.

~ Mayo Martin

I hope I will be able to find and exercise my creativity in this module.

Welcome to All

2008-08-20T15:34:00.001+08:00

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome.
Fremde, étranger, stranger.
Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchanté, happy to see you.
Bleibe, reste, stay!
欢迎, enna vishayam, selamat-datang...