Just a short note to say that I will be away from 1 to 10 November 2012. I will reply all enquiries once I get back to Singapore or whenever I manage to get internet access overseas. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Documentary PhotographyPERFECT LIGHTCompelling Authentic Timeless
My granddad passed away on the 3rd of October 2012. He lived to a ripe old age of 94. Since he suffered from a stroke more than 2 years ago, I have been photographing him and my grandmother whenever I go over for a visit. The photos are for my own record and to show my children, in future, who their great-grandparents were. I posted some photos from this series last year in a blog post –> SEE HERE.
In a fitting conclusion to this series, I decided to photo-document the funeral wake as well as the scattering of my granddad’s ashes a week later. This ending is a tribute to him and my 91-year old grandmother. They celebrated 70 years of marriage this year and truly were only parted through death.
“What matters is not what you photograph, but why and how you photograph it. Even the most controversial subject, if depicted by a sensitive photographer with honesty, sympathy, and understanding, can be transformed into an emotionally rewarding experience.” ~Andreas Feininger
I totally agree with the above quote by Andreas Feininger and I hope that most of the photographs I take will lead to an emotionally rewarding experience for viewers. The following is a small selection of photos from the funeral and the scattering of ashes. Farewell Grandpa!
“Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet!
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again!”
~Jeremiah E. Rankin (1828-1904)
A couple of months ago, I wrote about how photography books make up a large part of my ongoing photography education (see HERE). I adopt the attitude that there are always new things to learn and room for improvement in all areas of my life. I found out yesterday about a book clearance sale at the Creative Design Space (NAFA 2 Campus, 38 Bencoolen Street, next to Bayview Hotel) and dropped in to have a look. The books were going for up to 80% off and I went a bit crazy like a kid in a candy store (my wife thinks that’s an understatement). I ended up buying a HUGE stack of photography books for around S$150. So the following is my current revitalized stack of ‘photography education’ books. Other than the William Eggleston, Walker Evans and Jim Marshall books, everything was bought at the clearance sale.
.jpg "MyOngoingPhotographyEducation2")
“My advice to photographers is to get out there in the field and take photographs but also if they are students to finish their course, learn as many languages as possible, go to movies, read books, visit museums, broaden your mind.” ~Martine Franck
The list of books from top down, left to right are:
- Pring’s Photographer’s Miscellany
- Parr by Parr: Discussions with a promiscuous photographer
- Walker Evans: American Photographs: Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Edition
- An Inner Silence: The Portraits of Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Documentary and Anti-Graphic Photographs: Manual Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans
- Daido Moriyama: The World through My Eyes
- Ernst Haas: Color Correction
- Art Photography Now
- Asakusa Portraits, Hiroh Kikai
- Shahidul Alam: My Journey as a Witness
- Bruce Davidson: Subway
- The Dusseldorf School of Photography
- Jim Marshall: Proof
- William Eggleston: Chromes
I am not sure what is left at the clearance sale. When I left yesterday, I remember there was still a copy of Magnum Contacts Sheets, Michael Kenna: Images of the Seventh Day, Raghu Rai’s Delhi, Alex Webb’s The Suffering of Light (S$20) and The Mexican Suitcase (S$32) available.