“The Night Watch” is a photographic series of security guards who protects the nation at night.
All strange things happen at night, and we are strangers to the dark. We don’t quite explore it; we find ways to live around it, whereas for some, they guard the night while the city sleeps. We often forget the heroes who are always around to keep us safe while we are at our most vulnerable. The quietness and the mystery of the night, takes on a mystical charm which is so colourful, but also dark.
Being labelled as the second safest country in the world, we are able to sleep soundly knowing the safety we have. I wanted to prove how well-protected our country is by doing excessive research to come up with a large collection of photographs of security guards, hoping to give an impact on how safe we are, by showing shots of guard posts or security guards. I chose to shoot at night as it it when the city is most vulnerable, and with the heroes guarding the night, we can all sleep soundly in the comfort of our beds without any worries.
Find the unseen that is overlooked, bring forth and start appreciating.
For this project, I’ve been to about 3 industrial areas – Marsiling, Jurong and Bukit Batok, and many many many condos. I’ve shot about 50 places till my camera died on me. I wonder how I’m gonna do my Project 3… Nevertheless, here are the 30 images with a mixture of private houses and industrial areas that have made the cut for submission.
This project was quite tough as I normally start shooting after 11pm so that the street has lesser people and it’s quieter, in order to achieve the “stillness” I want in my photos. Basically for this project, it was a shoot and run style as the guards were quite aware of my presence and I think they thought I was some suspicious person LOL. The condo guards are harder to take as they are much more alert than the industrial areas ones. Overall, it was fun shooting this series and I am very satisfied with the outcome as it turned out exactly how I wanted it to be, especially the lighting 🙂
But next time, if I’ve a chance, most likely I wouldn’t choose to shoot the night again. Although it’s beautiful, it’s super scary. But well, maybe?
