Above is the layout for the final presentation for project 1a. The photographs are arranged in a grid as the general theme of my photographs are geometric and orderly. I made the decision to arrange it in the sequence of task 2, task 1 followed by task 3 from left to right. I wanted to put task 1 and task 3 beside each other as they feature the same subject matter- my HDB estate.
1.TASK 1 – Me
PHOTOGRAPHS:
ANALYSIS:
For task 1, I photographed a series of self portraits against the backdrop of the surrounding HDB buildings visible through the windows of the house. These photographs are not just portraits of myself but are also a portrait of the environment I grew up in. I have been living in the same house for all 20 years of my life and there is something about my house and my estate which I identify very strongly with. As cliche as this may sound, the environment in which I have been growing up in has very much influenced me to being the person that I am today. My schools, the places where I played, my neighbours and my house itself has been the subject of the experiences and memories which I have forged over the years. Therefore I wanted to photograph myself “blending” into my environment, almost like an unobtrusive subject in a photograph of my estate. I used a red shirt to visually blend into the background and a lack of facial expression as well as having my back face the camera allows me to “meld into my environment” visually and metaphorically. The use of a deep depth of field also creates less contrast between me and the background.
PROCESS:
Having the idea to photograph myself with the view from my windows as a backdrop from the very beginning, I had to experiment with various lighting setups and camera angle to achieve the desired final photograph.
COMPOSITION
Experimentation with various camera angles, placements as well as focal lengths. Used my father as a stand in before i fix the camera angle onto a tripod. In the end a wide focal length with the camera close to the subject was used. This allows me to show a greater expanse of the background.
Experimentation of camera angles for the second photograph. The eye level shot was aesthetically better due to the planar dimensionality of the background, as if the background is nothing but a painted wall.
Experimentation of different camera placements and focal lengths. The final camera angle allowed me to show more of the subject and reveals the red curtain which fits into the red theme of this series.
The 3rd photograph in the series was shot through the kitchen window.
LIGHTING
For all 3 photographs in the series, lighting was crucial as the subject would seem too dark standing in front of a bright window. I used a remote flash and a DIY softbox which I built to light the subject so as to balance the exposure of the subject and the background.
My DIY softbox placed close to the subject for maximum light fall off, achieving a dramatic effect.
Using different placements of the softbox to achieve different effects. The final lighting setup (extreme right) was attained by positioning the softbox above the subject and using a white reflective board below the subject to fill in the shadows below the chin (compare with the image second from the right).
Example of how lighting can bring out the subject against a bright background. 
Subject’s expression barely visible without flash.
COLOUR CORRECTION
Colours were drastically altered to create an almost surreal effect and allowing the subject to almost blend into the background due to the subdued skin tones and low contrast.
2. TASK 2 – Object and Representation of Self
PHOTOGRAPHS:
ANALYSIS:
For task 2 I photographed a drawer in which I collected all sorts of junk and dismantled items when I was a kid. My mother told me that she read about how an artist, when young, was given a room in which he could express his creativity without any boundaries. He was allowed to draw on the walls and channel his creative energy anywhere in the room. Apparently this artist turned out to become successful. Inspired by that story, my mother gave me something similar but on a smaller scale. She gave me a whole drawer to store anything I wanted when i was really young. As a child I love to make things and dismantle anything I could get my hands on. I collected all sorts of paraphernalia from wine corks to strips of 35mm film. However there was a point when I stopped collecting things and the drawer became a time capsule. When I opened it recently for this project, memories of how each item came about came flooding back to me. Each item has its own story. It was like looking through old photographs; the feeling of nostalgia as I reminisced about my childhood. This drawer is something I would definitely be keeping for a very long time!
PROCESS:
Once I decided that I was going to photograph my drawer, I knew that I did not want to simply photograph the drawer itself but all the individual items inside as each item has a unique story to tell, like displaying the photographs in a photo album instead of just the cover of the photo album. However there was one challenge I faced. How was I going to photograph all the items in a single image?
I knew that I needed a high angle shot, thus I decided that it would be a good idea to remove my ceiling light and mount the camera where the light used to be. It worked flawlessly. I used a long USB cable to connect the camera to my laptop and I could remotely operate the camera from a comfortable level.
After some experimentation I found that the best lighting is achieved when I simply face the flash towards the ceiling which essentially makes the ceiling a giant light source, providing soft directional light for the subject. In addition to having the flash, I draped a large piece of white fabric on the opposite side (at the bottom of the image) to bounce the and fill in some of the shadows.
With the camera mounted on the ceiling, I could take some interesting full body portraits.
Work in progress!
Red string was used to form a rectangular perimeter and used as a guide to allow me to see where the borders of image is. All the objects were meticulously arranged so that we get a sense of geometry and order.
These are other ways in which I attempted to include myself in the photograph. The final image image was selected as I became part of the array of items on the floor, symbolizing that there is no distinction between the subject (me) and the items (things I used to make and collect).
http://www.jimgoldenstudio.com/
The concept of arranging items in a neat and orderly fashion and photographing it from the top was made famous by photographer Jim Golden.
TASK 3 – My World
PHOTOGRAPHS:
MORE PHOTOGRAPHS (those that could not be displayed due to quota):
ANALYSIS:
If I were to be able to title this series of photographs, I would call it “Portraits of my Estate”. The subject of the photographs are the buildings: some are extreme close ups while others are wide angle shots. It almost seems like the buildings are people and in the wide shots we see a gathering of people. The place which I identify with the most is the place which I grew up in – Bishan. It is the place where I grew up in and a familiar place that I can call home.
PROCESS:
When I was thinking of what I would constitute most strongly as “My World” the very first thing that came to mind was my neighbourhood in Bishan. Without much of a plan, I decided to simply bring my camera along a walk around my estate.
My initial photographs were of interesting shapes and forms found around my estate. The concept was to capture the seemingly mundane in an artistic way through the use of composition. However the photographs did not seem to have that “wow” factor. So I came up with the idea of photographing my estate from the top floors of the HDB blocks. The first time I went up to the top floor of my block, I was blown away by the view. I knew that this idea had potential.
At the top floor.
View from the top of by HDB block. Thus with this idea in mind, I went to many blocks around my house at different times of the day to get various interesting shots. I also played around with various focal lengths to get more abstract images of the HDBs.
I used a tripod to be able use long exposures to shoot at night.
These are the views I got from various blocks. This image above was not captured by chance. I knew the direction of the sunrise so I looked for a block with staircases that faces the correct direction and provides an unobstructed view of the horizon. I positioned myself at the highest floor at 630am. Unfortunately due to cloudy and hazy conditions I only saw the sun after it has risen a distance from the horizon.
Each image was intensely colour corrected to bring out the pastel colours of the HDB, creating an almost dreamlike landscape of the estate. The close up shots of the estate almost look like an abstract array of colours bound by geometric shapes.
https://instagram.com/_nguan_/
The style of colour correction was very much influenced by a Singaporean Photographer, Nguan who creates beautiful images that are low in contrast and tinted with subtle pastel hues to create a touch of softness in the photographs