pfong

Ready to Go

2012-01-01T16:37:00.001+08:00

National Library

2011-10-20T22:11:00.002+08:00

Cobbler, Old Tekka Market

2011-08-03T22:34:00.001+08:00

Uncle hard at work in 2005. I don't think uncle re-opened his shop after they renovated Tekka Market.

Scooter, Old City, Rhodes

2011-08-02T00:09:00.002+08:00

Epta Piges, Rhodes

2011-07-28T20:56:00.002+08:00

The Wood Between the Worlds

I like to think that the Knights of St John would have stopped here at these springs to water their horses as they travelled between the Grand Master's Palace and their ultimately doomed Castle Feraklos.

Singapore Photography:

The Photographic Society of Singapore is celebrating its 60th anniversary!
Chia Aik Beng is a local photographer who is one of the winners of this year's Iphone Photography Awards. iMerlion has an interview with Aik Beng.
Deanna Ng is a local photographer with a great blog.

Moni Tsambikas, Rhodes

2011-07-12T08:31:00.001+08:00

This is a place of pilgrimage for childless women. On the monastery's festival day, 18 September, women climb up the 995 steps to the summit on their knees, to pray that they may conceive. We there alone on a grey December day. Only a lordly ram and his harem of ewes were our companions on the climb up.

We offered a prayer at sunset beneath the lowering clouds.

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Three Ducks, Seven Springs

2011-06-27T21:40:00.002+08:00

Epta Piges, Rhodes.

Links of the day:

Business Insider has links to five amazing iphone photographers.
Still life with a book. A series of still lifes that combine two of my favourite things, photography and books.
Winners of the LIFE 2011 Photoblog awards.
One in 8 Million is the New York Times section that tells the stories of New Yorkers in sounds and images. Being a new father I was fascintated by the story of the couple that delivered their own baby and the story of the couple that adopted what they thought was a three year old girl but, well just listen their story.

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On Children

2011-06-19T11:51:00.001+08:00

On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Link of the day:

Dear Photograph - photographs are the closest thing to a time machine that we currently have.

Ruins of Castle Feraklos, Rhodes

2011-06-10T23:20:00.002+08:00

LC, wandering among the ruins. This pic reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer.
________________

Central Library, Singapore

2011-05-31T20:07:00.000+08:00

Link of the day:
- Hipstamatic and the Time when Photographs looked like Paintings.

__________

Sunset on Mount Sophia

2011-05-10T09:10:00.000+08:00

All the Pretty Horses

2011-04-18T08:53:00.001+08:00

East Coast Park.

___________

In The Old City

2011-04-16T10:39:00.002+08:00

_________

Christmas in Rhodes

2011-04-13T23:33:00.000+08:00

Guide Star

2011-04-11T21:45:00.005+08:00

Following LC.

Links of the day:

Lori Nix does wonderful dioramas and photographs them. This composition of a tree in a library is my favourite.
Vivian Maier - Chicago nanny discovered to be a master street photographer. There's a fascinating video about the discovery of her photo's here. What's instructive about this is that: over time, the value of photography tends to increase; and by taking a lot of pictures, Vivian inevitably gave herself the opportunity to continue improving.

Circle of Life

2011-01-05T12:13:00.001+08:00

On the way to Matthias's funeral.
His son Ian, who is just starting uni, gave a moving eulogy. One life ends, and another begins.

_________

Windows on Smith St

2010-12-28T14:30:00.001+08:00

Photography Links:

Tell my mom not to worry - A photographer hikes the Appalachian trail with a Canon Eos5D.
Liu Bolin - is hiding in plain sight.
Mark Leibovitz - does fashion as impressionism. Being a fan of impressionistic art, this is real treat.

Dreampop

2010-11-13T13:31:00.001+08:00

Links of the Day:

Pictures of my Mother - A place for old photographs and the stories behind them.
HDR picture of the crescent moon - HDR is proving useful in Astrophotography.
Lens Culture - is a fantastic blog about contemporary photography.

____________

Serene's Wedding

2010-10-07T18:48:00.004+08:00

Amazing to think that its been four years since I worked with Serene on this portrait.

Singapore Photography:

Samantha Tio's Table for One is an interesting Singapore based photo project. She even found someone having a steamboat meal alone.
Hendra Lauw is a photographer based in Singapore. His photoblog is a wonderful collection of portrait, travel and landscape photgraphy.

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Musuem of Antiquities, Rhodes

2010-09-23T14:07:00.003+08:00

_______

Ruins of Castle Firaklos

2010-09-22T14:45:00.002+08:00

Links of the day:

Pictory - The One Who Got Away. The pictures and text work together really well here.
The camera as a flying carpet and learning machine.
The Strobist's High Pass PS Technique.

__________

Eye of the Storm

2010-09-14T18:56:00.001+08:00

The storm closes in as we climb up to Firaklos castle.

Links of the Day:

Photojournalism is dead. Neil Burgess just pronounced the time of death.

Singapore Photography:

Overland 2010 is Singaporean photographer Ngiap Heng's blog about his 8 month journey from Singapore to Europe. Wonderful travel photography.

____

Acropolis of Lindos

2010-07-28T23:33:00.001+08:00

______

Ruins At Lindos

2010-07-27T21:57:00.004+08:00

Link of the day:

Rolfe Horn has a great page on the tecniques he uses for his landcapes.

Singapore Photography:

The iphone project from Junjie
edeno photoblog - is back shooting the Singpore reservoirs.
Eadwine and Feldberyl are Singapore wedding photographers with interesting blogs. Found via Shutterbug's blog.

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Christmas Story Hour

2010-07-22T12:57:00.000+08:00

Part of the international community's celebration of Christmas in Rhodes.

Link of the day:

Diane Varner's Daily Walks - is a photoblog with a poetic treatment of colour and light.

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Evening in the Old City

2010-07-13T14:27:00.002+08:00

Bandstand with Mother and Child, Rhodes

2010-07-08T20:23:00.002+08:00

Haunted House Revisited

2010-07-05T14:01:00.002+08:00

Taking a little break from Greece. It's been five years since I last photographed this abandoned mansion in Singapore. Five years ago, part of the roof had just collapsed. Now the upper verandah has fallen down as well. The house is slowly falling in on itself. It's not just the work of the weather either. You can see that the lower panels of the windows have been broken open.

Five years ago, the gates were still carefully locked and the old gardener would come by occasionally to trim the lawn. Now the main gates are leaning open off their hinges . I don't recall seeing the old gardener in the last few years. Now that the place is more accessible, I've finally been able to read the sign on the garage door. It says, "Ex-Serviceman's Association".

The place is still as much a mystery as ever. Who abandoned this place leaving all the doors and windows open and only locking the main gate? When I first discovered the place, there was still furniture in the house, but it has long been stripped bare. Only one old shell chandelier remains and the bats still flutter outside in the cool of the twilight.

Christmas Lights in the Old City, Rhodes

2010-06-25T12:56:00.003+08:00

Winter Evening, Rhodes

2010-06-17T14:05:00.002+08:00

City Gate, Rhodes

2010-06-07T10:00:00.000+08:00

One of the many gates in the medieval wall surrounding the old city.

Minaret, Old Town - Rhodes

2010-05-31T21:07:00.001+08:00

Link of the day:

Edge of the World: Frame 10525 - Jim Richardson is a photographer for National Geo with interesting insights on making great landscape photographs. That 10525 number is the number of shots before he got the one he wanted.

Soapstone Dancer

2010-05-19T22:09:00.002+08:00

Link of the day:

Katrin Eisman is the Photoshop Diva - her site has a slew of articles about PS and creative techniques.

Muslim Graveyard, Murad Reis Mosque, Rhodes

2010-04-19T22:14:00.003+08:00

Night in the Old City

2010-03-29T23:11:00.004+08:00

Old City, Rhodes.

More Singapore Photography:

Philipp Aldrup's Life in Two Worlds - An excellent look at the gulf between the kampung and modern Singapore.

More Singapore Photography & Photoblogs

2010-03-24T22:39:00.002+08:00

Umbrella Head, Cross Street, Chinatown.

Singapore Photography:

Yao Hong's - Still There and Shadows' has a distinct Singapore feel.
Deanna Ng's - Pasat: Singapore
Chris Yap's - Heritage Bulidings
Kong Chong Yew's - Left Right, Left Right. a look at National Service
Noor Hazmee's Place - Singapore Landscape - Dawn on the Lunar New Year.
Fotograf by Imran is back online.
Ubersee has an interesting series on the Mitre Hotel.

Laundry Day

2010-03-08T21:58:00.001+08:00

Photography Links:

Miss Aniela on bending over backwards with photoshop. An instructive look at how she achieves her amazing self portraits.

Ghost Church

2010-02-24T22:01:00.005+08:00

Old Town - Rhodes

In the Court of the Lion

2010-02-22T23:16:00.002+08:00

Archeological Musuem - Rhodes.

Photo links:

Miss Aniela explains how she came up with the concept of one of her self portraits.It's fascinating to read how she looks for ways to come up with something that transcends a snapshot and becomes art.

The Bride was Beautiful - Heartbreaking wedding photography. It doesn't start out like a wedding shoot, but you soon see that it is.

In th Old Town - Rhodes

2010-02-19T22:07:00.002+08:00

Link of the day:

Blake Andrews has a great meditation on this photo by Dorothea Lange. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Peter Funch has done a fascinating series of composites of people on the street.

Singapore Photography:

Noor Hazmee's The Hideout, is a Singapore photoblog with some wonderful cityscapes of the city we call home.

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In the Palace

2010-02-18T20:42:00.004+08:00

Staircase - Detail

2010-02-17T21:21:00.004+08:00

Staircase - Grand Master's Palace, Rhodes

2010-02-09T23:52:00.002+08:00

Deserted Hall - Grand Master's Palace, Rhodes

2010-02-04T21:27:00.003+08:00

Gary Winogrand answers questions about his work. The whole transcript is at the link, and is as obtuse as you'd expect, but here are some juicy bits.

Q: [on what he considers his photography.] Work—play—

GW: I use the word "play"; but you understand the word "play"—if you ever watch children play—what do you observe when you watch children play? You know, they're dead serious. They're not on vacation.

Q: What is it, say, in a picture that makes it interesting instead of dead; what makes it alive instead of dead?

GW: [On describing a picure of Robert Frank's that he admired].
Well, let's say—let's go back to that gasoline picture. . . . Let's say, [it's] the photographer's understanding of possibilities. Let me say something else. When he [Robert Frank] took that photograph he couldn't possibly know—he just could not know that it would work, that it would be a photograph. He knew he probably had a chance. In other words, he cannot know what that's going to look like as a photograph. I mean, understanding fully that he's going to render what he sees, he still does not know what it's going to look like as a photograph. Something, the fact of photographing something changes—I mean, when you photograph—if I photograph you I don't have you, I have a photograph of you. It's got its own thing. That's really what photography, still photography, is about. In the simplest sentence, I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed. Basically, that's why I photograph, in the simplest language. That's the beginning of it and then we get to play the games.

Q: But the thing that's intriguing is not really knowing what the result is going to be like.

GW: Of course. What I know bores me. You know, you get into the business of commercial photography, and that's all you do is photograph what you know. That's what you're hired for. And it's very easy to make successful photographs—-it's very easy. I'm a good craftsman and I can have this particular intention: let's say, I want a photograph that's going to push a certain button in an audience, to make them laugh or love, feel warm or hate or what—I know how to do this. It's the easiest thing in the world to do that, to make successful photographs. It's a bore. I certainly never wanted to be a photographer to bore myself. It's no fun—life is too short. . . .

Laocoön

2010-02-01T22:53:00.000+08:00

The Palace of the Grand Master, Rhodes.

Palace of the Grand Master

2010-01-11T20:51:00.002+08:00

Courtyard of the Grand Master's Palace, Rhodes.

Click on the picture for a smaller size if the image is too large for your screen.

Suleiman

2010-01-04T22:03:00.004+08:00

91 years old at the time this photo was taken. He has lived all his life within sight of the mosque that he was named after.

The Golden Wall

2010-01-03T22:34:00.003+08:00

Heading Home

2009-12-29T23:00:00.000+08:00

Day is Done

2009-12-23T23:19:00.000+08:00

In Atlantis

2009-12-22T22:05:00.002+08:00

Atlantis, bookstore, Oia.

Oia - Talkiona Interlude

2009-03-11T22:09:00.006+08:00

A toast! So many things to be thankful for:

- Ice cold water and hot food at the end of the trail;
- The most spectacular landscapes I've seen;
- Most of all, for finding LC again after losing her!

Movie links:

Raiders of the Lost Ark story conference between George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and screen writer Lawrence Kasdan. If you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in middle of their creative process, this is it.

I first read the Watchmen when I borrowed my brother's copy of the comic, reading one issue a month as they were issued. Back then it was still a comic and not a graphic novel. The character of Dr Manhattan fascinated me even then. Roger Ebert's thoughts on Dr Manhattan and the many comments on his post are a great read.

Wayside Shrine

2009-03-11T15:35:00.006+08:00

Offerings at the end of the trail.

Singapore Photography:

Sam Kang Li is a Singapore photographer who has done amazing pj work on the overthrow of the Nepali monarchy.

Ch'ng Yaohong curates the Asian Photography Blog, a great resource for Asian photography.

Leaving the Little Chapel

2009-03-11T14:09:00.003+08:00

The Little Chapel of Stavros

2009-03-10T13:52:00.010+08:00

That second hill was taking its toll on LC, so I took her backpack as well as my own to double hump it up to the summit. When she reached the top, LC was kind enough to take a pic of me working the angles from the little chapel of Stavros near the summit.

Singapore Photography:

Ivan O is a Singapore photoblogger with very interesting work. I particularly like his Chinatown by Night series. Film noir with colour.

Found

2009-03-04T12:16:00.015+08:00

Having descended the tricky slope of the summit behind her, LC looks at the next hill.

I had guessed correctly and soon found LC pressing on ahead on the trail. My lesson learned from this experience was not to split up from LC. She tends to wander off!

Links of the Day:

DTown Tv - Useful tips on using Nikon equipment from Scott Kelby. The best ways to teach these kind of practical tips is through a video and that's what Scott uses.
Andreas Geffeller - has some unusual landscape work taken from an overhead perspective. Inspiring stuff.

Singapore Photography:

Photo District News has a feature on Darren Soh, a Singapore based photographer who does urban landscapes. Congrats Darren!

Lost

2009-02-25T13:51:00.005+08:00

I took the trail to the left guessing that if LC had to move she'd press on instead of back tracking. I was pretty anxious by now.

Singapore Photography

I particularly like the infinity of blue tones on the horizon of this shot of Manang on the Annapurna Circuit. Herbert is a Singapore based travel photographer with other great hiking shots on his blog.

Hearts in Atlantis

2009-02-23T14:14:00.002+08:00

My heart was already pounding from my sprint up the cliff path back to the main trail. It didn't help my heart rate any when I got back to the chapel and found that LC wasn't at the rendezvous point. I looked without success for a note she might have left and then spent anxious minutes trying to raise her on her mobile. Where could she have gone? Ahead to Oia or back the way we had already come?

Photography Link of the Day:

I'm a tremendous admirer of Vanessa Winship's The Black Sea project. The people in her photographs are so unselfconscious of the camera, it's like she isn't there or that the people she photographs accept her as one of their own.

The ability to connect to people and be accepted by them must be the key to great photography like this. I don't find this human touch easy, so much of my photography is landscape.

Destination Oia

2009-02-19T22:24:00.003+08:00

I'm in a mad rush now. A good part of the morning is gone. Our original plan was to hike to Oia, which is the big cluster of buildings on the horizon. It's only 11 klicks away, hiking along the rim of the caldera, keeping that 1000 foot drop to sea on our left all the way. It looks close, but I've no idea about the condition of the trail and there's a fair bit of ascending and descending along the way.

First I've got sprint back up the steep climb to the main trail to rondezvous with LC. I was in such a rush that I stripped my circular polarizer completely off its threads while changing lenses. I dumped the whole oily mess in my backpack and started running.

This has taken longer than expected but the whole series on the Hidden monastery is here:

The Hidden Monastery Start at the bottom of the post and work your way up.

Photography Elsewhere:

I don't think I've seen clouds like these before. They are amazing. Nacreous Clouds.
Mr Sanguine has posted pics of his thru-hike of the Overland Trail in Tasmania. I'm deeply envious. LC and I only managed to visit the start and end points of the trail. I hope to get around to posting those someday :-)

Farewell to the Hidden Monastery

2009-02-17T22:23:00.006+08:00

Last sight of the monastery as we round the caldera.

You can just spot the dome and the bell tower above where the horizon line meets the slope of the cliff on the left part of the picture.

Ironically, I've had more to time to reflect and enjoy the monastery in preparing this series of photos than when I was actually there. The trip to the monastery was a small detour at the beginning of a much longer hike to Oia. Because LC wasn't feeling too good, I had taken the side trip alone. I was worried about her and in rush meet her where I had left the main trail.

Finding The Hidden Monastery

2008-11-19T22:34:00.012+08:00

I picked my way around the loose rocks and rounded the butte. There below me, was what I hoped to find. Despite the hope and expectation, finding it was still a surprise. Hidden from view and beyond a trail that had been destroyed by a rock slide, the monastery was pristine, and completely deserted.

Inside, votive lights were burning.

The monastery viewed from the lagoon:

My eyesight wasn't good enough to spot it when I took the picture, but now with the benefit of a 100% crop, the building is visible. I still find it hard to believe that such a place exists in this world.

Merlion

2008-11-17T23:14:00.001+08:00

Medusa's Garden

2008-11-12T21:38:00.008+08:00

I've rested long enough. Time to press on.

I soon discover why the trail vanishes at the base of the butte. There's been a rock slide. It looks recent, the freshly opened rock faces still sharp and angular. Erosion hasn't had time to soften their profiles yet. The trail has been obliterated.

I press on, and try to pick my way between the jumbled rocks which are heaped in fanciful shapes around me. I see a rock that looks like an outhrust sphinx and over there a formation that looks like a Merlion. It feels like I've left the fantasy landscape of Santorini and entered the realm of myth.

Hidden Monastery II

2008-05-06T22:25:00.008+08:00

I've descended nearly into the saddle connecting the main island to the butte. There are ruined and abandoned buildings ahead. I still can't see how the trail continues beyond the butte. Wondering whether this is the right trail at all. I'm concerned about leaving LC alone for too long and we have a long hike ahead. What was intended to be a quick side trip may not turn out to be such a good idea after all.

The Hidden Monastery

2008-04-23T21:58:00.005+08:00

On the ferry back from Thirasia yesterday, LC and I spotted a monastery mid way up the face of the 300 m high sea cliffs of Santorini's caldera wall. Today we've decided to try and find it. The monastery is completely hidden from the landward side, so I'm just guessing that the trail below is going to lead to something behind the butte on the left. From this vantage point I'm scouting ahead through my 200mm lens. The trail seems to peter out around the loose rocks at the base of the butte.

From here this looks like the landscape of a dream. The drama of the landscape, a reflection of the trauma and violence of the volcano that shaped these vertiginous cliffs long ages ago.

LC, says she's still tired from yesterday's hike, so she's going to wait for me at the chapel (the white building on the right of the frame). Looks like I'm going solo on this one.

Paradise Lost

2008-03-25T22:35:00.007+08:00

We double timed on the hike back to the jetty. Again we are the only people boarding from Thirasia. The deserted isle said good bye the same way it greeted us, with the cold abandonment of winter. On the way back to our hotel, this shadowy gate reminded me of our hasty flight from Paradise.

Photography Elsewhere:

Amazing self portraits from Wired picked by the readers and the editors. Both selections just blew me away.

Santorini Lagoon

2008-03-18T23:22:00.002+08:00

Paradise Gate

2008-03-17T22:53:00.003+08:00

Anything that seems like paradise never lasts. There's only one ferry back from Thirasia each day and it leaves at 4.00 pm. We have a deadline.

Toilet of the Gods

2008-03-13T22:24:00.004+08:00

At the end of our long hike across the island was this marvel: those three doors are the toilets of the monastery.

Blue Infinity

2008-03-11T08:46:00.006+08:00

Cape Trypiti Monastery, Thirasia.

We hiked up the hill to the monastery from yesterday's post. It's spotlessly clean, with a kitchen, a well, toilets (ah, the toilets!), cells for at least 8 monks and a big portable generator. It's also completely deserted. I'd guess that no-one lives here permanently anymore and this place is only visited on Sundays or holy days. Perhaps it's not safe to live here anymore. This place is on the edge of a cliff and part of the path up here had crumbled away to the sea far below.

Today it's just us and the wind in this quiet place. I believe that I can almost see forever from here.

Just to the left of this pic is a part of the building which is the most spectacular example of this type of thing I've seen so far. Of all the splendours and marvels of the world, this one made a big impact on me. I don't have a great pic of it, but I'll try and post what I have soon.

Cape Trypiti Monastery

2008-03-09T23:30:00.005+08:00

Our destination is in sight now. A monastery on the far end of the island, atop the cliffs of the cape.

Reflections on a City

2008-02-26T23:06:00.004+08:00

We had hiked across almost the entire length of Thirasia island. It felt deserted, closed for the season, empty and treeless. The closest thing I've been to a real desert island. We had hoped to have lunch at a restaurant on the island. No such luck. Everything was closed for the winter. We lunched on trail bars and a packet of nuts.

In the stillness of the afternoon, a single cloud lingered over the caldera and the sea was finally calm enough to reflect the city across the lagoon.

Windmill Ruin

2008-01-16T23:44:00.000+08:00

Desert Island

2008-01-07T00:30:00.001+08:00

Lonely Cloud

2008-01-02T22:47:00.001+08:00

View of Fira town on Santorini from Thirasia. B&W version here.
Wishing everyone a great year ahead.

Above Us Only Sky

2007-12-11T22:01:00.000+08:00

Greek Orthodox Church, Thirasia.

Singapore Photography:

My friend Ngiap Heng is running a promo for his studio portraits. I think that this is a great deal considering that this guy is one of the best in Singapore.

Underground Church

2007-12-10T21:54:00.000+08:00

Thirasia is terra incognito for us. We have no idea what is on the island so we packed a couple of bottles of water, trail bars and emergency chocolates. It turns out that it was a good thing we had the supplies.

Photography elsewhere:

Hellen van Meene is my hero. She does painterly portraits on the street with natural light. This is so pure. No lighting or gear set ups. Just the light, posing the model and the composition.

Thirasia

2007-10-29T00:11:00.000+08:00

Today, we’re up before dawn to catch the ferry to the moonlit isle of Thirasia. It’s a big boat and looks capable of engulfing tanker trucks and 18 wheeler container trucks. I nurse a steaming cup of coffee in the crisp air as we cross the lagoon and approach Thirasia.

I thought I’d stay on the upper deck while we docked to take pictures of the ship unloading, but the crew seemed a little anxious for us to disembark. We were still meters away from shore when they yelled for me to “Get down!” What’s the hurry, I wondered?

The crew lowered the unloading ramp as the ship turned hard around to bring its stern against the dock. We were waiting for the ramp to touch down, but a crewman asked us to, "go! go!". LC and I jumped off onto the dock and watched as the ship pulled away without ever stopping or letting its ramp touch the ground. Only then did we realize that we were the only two people getting off onto the deserted dock.

No one else was in sight.

Oia

2007-10-25T00:05:00.000+08:00

Back on the lagoon again and heading towards another island. This is a detail from this shot:

Porto Fira

2007-10-22T23:41:00.000+08:00

Cubist fantasy in blue.

Into the West

2007-10-18T00:13:00.000+08:00

Table by the Sea

2007-10-16T23:07:00.000+08:00

The Happiest Day

2007-10-10T23:53:00.000+08:00

Behold the Bride

2007-10-08T22:23:00.000+08:00

A little interlude from Greece.

Four Towers

2007-10-08T00:30:00.000+08:00

Santorini, Greece.

Back on the main island again.

Ground Zero

2007-10-01T23:01:00.000+08:00

I'm standing on the vent of an ancient volcano. The last eruption was thousands of years ago and yet still nothing lives on this island but the barest dusting of lichens. I can smell the sulphur steaming from the still smoking vents of this central cone. In places, the water surrounding the island is warm even in winter. All these signs are hints that this place might not be safest place to hang about in. Yet across the lagoon, on the caldera rim, the houses cling to the cliffs.

Surprising to find something like this exists in reality. This place could be a fantasy landscape from Tolkien or Lovecraft.

Singapore Photography

Ngiap Heng has put together a community web site for Singapore Art Photography.

Singapore Month of Photography 2007

2007-07-15T23:20:00.000+08:00

Went down to see the exhibition at City Hall (the old Supreme Court Building). Here's why this exhibition is worth seeing. The selection of exhibitors is fantastic. Local photographers Sha Ying and Matthew Teo, the titans of b&w photography in the Objectif Paris section and Martin Parr as the centerpiece of the exhibition. An outstanding mix. I viewed the exhibits in the order listed above, but it makes more sense to me to describe the exhibits in chronological order. Gives a better idea of the context of the photographs.

The Objectif Paris section is the earliest in terms of the dates of the photographs. Many of the old masters are here. The usual suspects : Cartier Bresson, Eugene Atget, Brassai, Doisneau. This section of the exhibition is an exemplar of what I think to be the classical school of photography. The photographers here pay attention to the aesthetics of the photograph. Light, tone, texture, composition, all elements used by these photographers to enhance the beauty of their images.

Another key element of some of the photographs here is the decisive moment. The challenge of the photographer not only taking care of the aesthetics of the photo but also the timing of it, capturing the quicksilver moment that is photographic magic.

On to Martin Parr. If the Objectif section is old school photography, this guy is the modern face of photography. His photographs are not so much about the aesthetics as about communicating an idea. The photographs are not beautiful in the classical sense, but the idea of the decisive moment is there. Revealing moments captured that communicate the photographer's sometimes wry commentary. The photo below is an example. A collection of over saturated images which reflect upon the cultural excess of the time.

I think that modern art is mainly about communicating ideas and not so much the crafting of the art itself. Martin's section called Auto Portraiture is an extreme example of this. Wherever Martin travels, he goes to a local photographer and asks the photog to do a portrait of Martin in the photographer's normal style. This exhibit is a collection of these portraits. There's no photographic skill on Martin's part as the photo's aren't taken by him, but Martin the artist is communicating an idea, perhaps a commentary on the pop photography taste of the public.

The most recent photographs would be from our two Singapore photographers. I'm not posting any shots of them here because, I'd love for people to go down and discover it for themselves. Ngiap Heng wrote a critical review of their efforts from an aesthetic perspective. Here's my take on them.

Sha Ying's exhibit is shots of tourists around the Merlion. Both elements of the decisive moment and the wry commentary of the modern style are here. He has certainly broken out of the mould of taking conventionally pretty pictures as has the other Singapore photographer exhibiting.

Matthew Teo's photos are of teenagers in Bukit Batok living their lives: thrashing on BMX bikes and skateboards, drinking, fighting, bleeding. It's very raw. These are photographs of a side of Singapore which I've never seen before. The key idea here is access. Matthew has gained the trust of these kids to allow him access to photograph them in these unflattering situations. It's this idea of access that allows us to see images of Singapore that may not have been seen before.

Xioa Kang's photographs are listed in the programme but are not exhibited. This supposedly schizophrenic photographer is actually the fictional creation of a few Singapore photographers. I think the exhibitors pulled the exhibit because the fictional nature of the photographer was not acceptable :-)

I enjoyed seeing what local photographers are doing in light of the context of the wider photographic world both classical and modern.

The exhibition is on until 29 July in City Hall . Details of events here. Go see it.

Rampart

2007-07-05T22:50:00.001+08:00

View of Oia from the center of the lagoon.

Icing

2007-07-03T21:55:00.000+08:00

The view of Fira from inside the crater.

Blue Fira

2007-06-26T22:50:00.000+08:00

Back to Fira to crash for the evening. A closer view of this shot.

Blue Woman, Red Beach

2007-06-20T23:22:00.000+08:00

It not easy to see at these small sizes, but there are two women on red beach. Here's a zoomed in view of the second one. This poor woman has a reason to be blue. She passed us and headed further up the deserted beach to settle down and enjoy the solitude. She's not there long before a naked old gentlemen starts walking in front of her picking up rocks or shells or something.

I just think that December is an odd time to go nude sunbathing in Greece.

Red Beach, Blue Woman

2007-06-18T22:41:00.001+08:00

Red Beach, Santorini.

Amazingly, Santorini has a white beach and a black beach to go with this red one. I was too tired to go see the other beaches though. Almost all my shots of the beach are from this one viewpoint. Couldn't bring myself to hobble down the rocky path to the beach, or even move once I'd set up the tripod. LC and I had hiked up to the ruins of Ancient Thira and down past the monastery earlier in the day.

The hike up to Ancient Thira was a killer, seemingly endless switchbacks up a steep mountain road to the ruined city. Even getting to the road up was a scramble, unsure footing most of the way with loose scree. I'd reached the road first and LC was struggling behind me, sliding back a couple of paces with every step forward. I could see she was in trouble. LC yelled out, "I'm giving up". I shouted out to her to try switch backing up the slope instead of climbing straight up and thought that if that doesn't work, I'd have to go back down and help her up. Just then a car turned around the corner of the mountain road, heading up to the ruins. I had one of those slo-mo moments of decision. I wanted to thumb a ride up the mountain, but there's no telling how long it will take to get LC up the slope to the road. OK, I thought, we'll let this one go, get LC up and hitch a ride from the next car that comes along.

LC finally made it up to the road and when I told her about the car, promptly said, "Why didn't you flag it down?". We never did see another car, as we hiked those endless hairpin loops up and up.

I think I was gnashing my teeth the whole way.

Anyway, that's the reason why I have almost twenty shots of Red Beach, and all of them are from this one spot.

Monastery

2007-06-16T22:17:00.001+08:00

Fira, Twilight

2007-06-12T23:52:00.000+08:00

Underwater

2007-06-07T23:58:00.000+08:00

The view from the roof of our hotel.

I'm tired from the day's hike and waiting for the shutter to trip so that I can get back to the warm room. The wind is making the clouds rush overhead and the full moon breaks cover, burnishing the sea with bright, cold, light. I think of Atlantis, and feel like I'm underwater, with the clouds streaming above like the surface of the sea.

Fira

2007-06-06T00:06:00.000+08:00

The view if Venus looks to the left.

View From The Edge

2007-05-22T23:29:00.000+08:00

The payback for the uncertainty of living on the edge of a volcano. The view across the lagoon towards the central vent.

City on the Edge of Forever

2007-05-20T23:49:00.001+08:00

The Venus in my previous post looks out onto this view; a city perched on the rim of an ancient volcano. The mountain erupted violently 3500 years ago, destroying the original larger island and leaving behind a shattered ring of islands circling a now calm lagoon. The tsunami and ash falls following the eruption is thought to have destroyed the Minoan civilisation. I guess that this is the reality behind the myth of Atlantis.

There's more than the beautiful view to give my Venus pause for thought. In the center of the lagoon, volcanic vents still jet out gas and steam. There are places where the sea is warm enough to swim even in winter. A city built on the cliff overlooking a volcano. A precarious place to live.

It strikes me as good metaphor for life and its fragility. We cling on, always on the edge of infinity.

Reflections on a Marine Venus

2007-04-03T00:23:00.000+08:00

View from the caldera rim, Santorini.

I won't be able to post for a while. Will be travelling for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the view!

Atlantis

2007-03-27T23:55:00.001+08:00

We are waiting at the harbour, sipping grainy Greek coffee in wind-blown, acrid cigarette smoke and listening to the ever present chik-chuk of the flicking worry beads. Agios Nikolaos is only a way station of for us. Our hearts are already in Atlantis.