Dear students,

Singapore is hosting the first Singapore International Photo Festival (SIPF), which might be of interest to you, especially for those of you who have intense interest in photography. It will subsequently be held once every two years.

The official website is as follows:

 Singapore International Photo Festival

Some details of the event that you might like to know:

• The event is from 8th October 2008 to 31st October 2008.
• The event is first of its kind in Southeast Asia.
• Its objective is to showcase the works of Southeast Asian artists alongside those of international artists at various venues in Singapore.
• The 3 main festival components are the official exhibitions, workshops and a 2-day portfolio preview session for 50 selected Southeast Asian photographers. This will be followed by a series of workshops facilitated by curators and senior photographers for 40 participants.
• You can get a copy of the festival guide by clicking here.

Out of all the talents, the Creatives are the most misunderstood.

Highly individualistic by nature, the Creatives take pride in all of their works. While there may be some Creatives who appreciate the contributions of others, most of them do not. They take great delight in creating something out of their own efforts and they often create something for aesthetical value and not for practical usage.

The last point is what makes the Creatives unsuitable in most corporate workplaces, where practicality and profits often take precedence over aesthetical beauty. Conflicts and disagreement often result between management and the Creatives since there’s apparently a conflict of interest between the two: the management wants to make a profit with a practical product while the Creatives often opt for aesthetics.

Another factor that makes the Creative averse to working in the corporate workplace is the fact that most of them hate the rules and bureaucratic atmosphere that exist in most work places. The Creatives often wants independence and flexibility to do what they want to do, which means that they want some quiet time to think things through. And they have a strong dislike for deadlines. Unfortunately, deadlines are prevalent in most work places and the numerous meetings often frustrate the Creatives. This may explain why the Creatives are often found in certain professions, which includes fashion design, advertising and any form of performing arts (dance, musicals etc) where freedom and flexibility is often given and even encouraged.

It’s interesting to note that there exists a group of Creatives who are able to blend their creative talents with the practical demands of companies. This gives them an edge when it comes to certain industries such as the design industry, the IT industry etc. An ability to use their creative talents to increase the profitability of a company may be one of the few ways for Creatives to assimilate into the company. Nevertheless, most Creatives will never allow their creative talents to be compromised by bureaucratic demands.  

To most Creatives, being creative is actually a gift. This is because not everyone is one. They feel that they are special in this world and they want to make use of this talent to create something for the good of mankind.  Most of them do not pursue materialistic wants and they are satisfied that the works that they have created have made this world a more beautiful place.

Dear Class,

The media industry- like all other things in life- is constantly changing. And as media professionals in the near future, it will be good for all of you to be adaptable and to be able to cope with changes.

It’s also good to get an experience of working with deadlines as several professions in the media industry  (such as journalists, writers and editors) do require one to work under such conditions. Many media professionals love their job and the reason that they are able to excel in their line of work is primarily because they have the passion to do it and working with deadlines often provides them with an adrenaline rush  to see their valued work come to fruition.

It will be good to realise that media professionals work towards what their target audience wants to see and read, and not what the media professionals themselves want. Understanding this perspective is crucial to the success of media organisations and subsequently, the media professionals themselves. 

Below are some of my thoughts on the areas that that all of you are able to develop:

-          Writing Style: Develop a strong curiosity of what is happening around you. Develop a strong thirst for knowledge. Identify the trends in the media industry. What do media consumers want? During your leisure time, keep a personal journal and pen your thoughts frequently. This practice is similar to what you have been doing for your reflection journal. This will help you improve your writing style. So, do develop a writing style of your own. Most successful writers have a distinct writing style. You can be one of them.

-          Photography / Page Design and Layout: Browse through all types of magazines and mentally “digest” the images on the various pages.   Observe the various angles that images are captured. Do you see a pattern? What are the common types of photographs? Subsequently, take your own pictures and develop your own style.  You can also cut out photographs from your used magazines. Gather the photographs together and base on a theme of your preference (such as “Courage”), selectively choose the photographs of the same thematic element by putting them together and separating them into sets. Now move one set of photographs to a piece of A4-sized paper and move the photographs around on the piece of paper.   Practice moving them in different directions and at different angles. Try stacking one part of a photograph on another. Tile them at different angles. Which of these arrangements have a stronger visual feel/appeal? Why? Doing all this will enable you to seek out common patterns in images, familiarise you with the art of photography as well as improving your foundations for page design and layout. It’s interesting to note that a single, well-selected photograph is impactful. However, having several photographs of the same thematic elements  arranged in  an appropriate and creative way adds a lot more punch to the message that you want to convey to your viewers/readers.  

For page design and layout, there are 6 primary factors that you need to take into considerations:

-        Emphasis   (e.g. placing a dark image on a white background etc)

-        Contrast   (e.g. using strong colours of different contrast to draw the viewer’s attention)

-        Balancing (e.g. Ensuring that the elements on the page are all balanced. That is, there should not be a situation where there is five images on the left side of a page while the right side is blank)

-         Alignment: (This has more to do with text than images, such as aligning the text left, centre or right)

-         Repetition: (Repeating visuals elements such as lines, font type, font size etc. has the ability to enable the readers to retain the information that they have read or seen)

-         Balancing:  (Such as the rational way of aligning the photographs from left to right)

A great visual layout and design usually fulfils all the abovementioned 6 factors. Do also build up your knowledge of typography. Changing the font types can also change the impact of the message. 

As mentioned in my previous post, I feel that the key emphasis as a photographer is in composition. However, no matter how good or efficient a photographer is, he or she will never get a perfect shot every time. Usually, there are more than one subject in focus, which is not encouraged. This is where mastering the art of cropping is essential.  In fact, this can be considered to be the most important function that a photographer should learn and master since it affects composition directly.

Consider this photo:

This image is captured very well. However, if you look at the photo carefully, there are two primary subjects of interest. And most photographers will usually opt for one. If not , the viewers will be confused as to what the photographer wish to tell his or her viewers. In this case, is the subject of interest the parallel pillars/long walkway on the left or or the train on the right? One of the most common mistakes that photographers make is in making viewers decide where to look. More often than not, the photographer should decide for the viewers (unless it’s a scenic shot whereby the viewers are invited to appreciate every aspect of the image).

In this instance, I personally feel that this photo should look best in a “portrait” rather than “landscape” format because of the parallel structure to its left. In addtion, the parallel pillars/long walkway should be a better subject of interest (there’s no wrong or right answers. Everything is based on one’s aesthetics preferences) as the part of the train to the right of the photo looks dull, despite the colour red which is usually striking. Therefore, I will choose to crop the image of the train on the right, leaving the image in a “portrait” format like this:

Now, we will have an image with one primary subject of focus.

As mentioned previously, there are no right or wrong answers. Cropping is merely the effort of the photographers to align what the viewers see with what they see.

Dear class, 

During one of our class discussions, some of you have brought up the concept of “Show, do not tell” when it comes to the reports by the media. I figure most of us will interpret this as a neutral, factual reporting of the media and not making any aspects of the report subjective.

Along the same vein, the concept of “Show, do not tell” can also be applied in the field of photography. Photographs often have a strong presence even in the absence of captions. They have the ability to evoke emotions while allowing every one of us to interpret the pictures independently of one another. This might be a bit constraining when it comes to the field of photojournalism (since the pictures are taken primarily to describe an event or a happening), but there’s still space left open for interpretation in this aspect as well. Once again - as mentioned in my previous post - composition is important since this is the most crucial factor when it comes to enabling the viewers to interpret the message of the photograph.

In a world where we are constantly being bombarded by noise, photography grants us that silence that enables us to have peace of mind. However, some advertisers are beginning to use photography as a form of visual attraction to engage our attention (when often we do not wish to). What begins as a form of art has now been turned into a device for consumerism, which is a very regretful development.

Nevertheless, it’s undeniable that the concept of “Show, do not tell” applies well when it comes to photography. If not, advertisers will not maximise the usage of such concept in recent years. Indeed, they are beginning to realise that a picture indeed speaks a thousand words.      

Photographs are most impactful when left alone. It is unbelievable how much we like to add information to photographs, Editors place captions below them, photojournalists adds an article alongside them and image editors edit them often to enhance the photo’s visual appeal.  It’s understandable that all of this is done to align the photographs to the reports that the media wish to make. However, at the same time, the impact of the photo is reduced since adding information in such ways reduces the number of possibilities of interpretations open to the viewers.

Hence, “Show, do not tell” should be the motto of every photographer.

Such is the essence of photography.

Photography is an interesting artistic endeavour.

And I am not referring to candid shots that most of us usually capture with cameras.  I am referring to images that are captured to transmit a message (such as those that are used in photojournalism) or to evoke an emotion (such as the image above).  Photography is indeed an interesting field that we can engage in.

Being an avid portraiture, landscape and nature photographer, I find it a joy to look at a picture and admire the significance of the image.  Besides being a photographer, I am also a writer who takes pride in my writing. However - through personal experiences - I find that words pale in comparison when we place them beside an image. This is because pictures have a way of evoking emotions that words alone are not powerful enough to express.  When it comes to understanding an image, it needs no words. Usually, it takes just a glance to understand the message that the image seeks to express.

While most photographers may emphasise the technical aspects of photography such as the depth of field, ISO setting, aperture adjustments and shutter speed, I feel that the most important component lies with composition (the way that the elements in an image are arranged together to create an impactful message). If one does not master the technique of composition, the rest of the technical aspects of photography do not matter as the photo has already lost its significance.

The photo above illustrates this point perfectly. This image is captured during one of the early evenings. I have deliberately avoided making any technical adjustments to my camera when I capture this image. However, I have taken measures to ensure that the composition is just right. The message that I want this photo to relay is the comparison between meagre man-made structures (i.e. buildings) and the expansive universe (signifying the cosmos). I have deliberately minimised the view of the HDB flats while enhancing the vastness of the sky.  I believe that the message is transmitted to the viewer in a single glance.

Creating powerful and insightful images has always been the dreams of many photographers, and the limitless possibilities are what make photography such endless enjoyment. And with the advancement of digital technology (where images are captured at no cost as compared to traditional films), photography has become possible for all of us. Be it humans, nature or landscapes, mastering composition will turn any of these images into a masterpiece.

So, do pick up a camera and capture some images. Who knows, photography might become an interest that you might like to pursue.

 For a lifetime.