Constants

‘The only  constant in life is change’ ~Anonymous.

People always change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

Who I am 1 year ago is no longer the person I am now.

That being said, taking pictures of ‘objects of significance’ then can only tell the story of a certain phase of our lives.

But is the above statement necessarily true?

After thinking deep into this matter, I’ve managed to find things that are ‘constants’ in my life.

They’ve never changed since birth and never will.

Things that are timeless:

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Time trapped in a jar. Time is being contained. Stopped.

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Birth. The moment that I enter into this world. 30/10/1993, Male.

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Aging. Little souvenir that quite accurately depicts the close relationship that my parents share. In recent years, my parents are experiencing a decline in their vision. But this is just the process of aging. Glasses represents the poor vision that is shared among my family. Which is a sign of aging.

 

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Sickness. Blood type can never be changed. If I am B(+), then I am B(+) for life. Some say B(+) is the sweetest blood type. But those are not sweets. They are lozenges. This candy with medicinal properties depicts the idea of sickness, where we can never escape from no matter how healthy we live our lives.

 

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Death/Loss. The most hated constant in life. This was the clay model that I ‘sculptured’ during the first ever lesson in ADM. I liked it. It broke. Many things in life, we lose them for good. Negative emotions arise. The more we lose the more these emotions overwhelm us.

Aging, Sickness and Death are constants in our lives. It brings us endless pain and suffering. However much we try we can never escape from it.

So then, do we fall into despair?

No.

We acknowledge the presence of this pain and understand the urgency of spreading love.

Love. Compassion. Wisdom.

 

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Love that illuminate the lives of others.

Love that spreads warmth and comfort.

Love that makes us see that there is hope in this world after all.

The gift of life is the most precious of all, treasure not only yours, but of others as well.

Below is a picture of the display that was to be put up in the ADM corridor. Rather new to the concept of photography so the picture arrangements came out bad. Nonetheless its still something.

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Timelessness is depicted as being ‘above all that is constant’. The constants are supposed to be arranged in a wave-like shape to promote the idea of a ‘cycle’. And above it all, the idea of love. Love coming on top of things that are important in life.

I hope this explanation makes it better.

Thanks for reading! Managed to learn a lot from my peers. So much gratitude goes out to them. Will try harder next time! Go easy on me!

~KJ

Self-portrait with my….

… water bottle?

This bottle has been with me for almost 4 years of my life. In a way it is a significant object to me.

I remember almost losing it once and the happy feeling that I’ve felt when it was subsequently returned to me.

Also during this period when I had it, I’ve undergo a huge emotional and spiritual journey which transformed me drastically over the last 4 years.

My initial idea was to illustrate the journey process, the ups and downs that I’ve been through when I have the bottle.

Below are some examples:

04_to nourish oneself 06_are meant to be broken 02_feeling trapped

 

One problem came from the shoot: THE STORY.

Story was not able to convey very clearly through the chain of pictures, although honestly they were fun to shoot. One of the biggest factors was probably due to the lack of emotions to be conveyed by just one single object.

After browsing through, Prof Vlad indicated that the styles of the pictures are not coherent, thus there is a need to find more consistency in the pictures taken.

So… Story and Consistency. Basically that is everything. 🙁

Back on the thinking chair, I’ve realized that the bottle might not be the true symbolism behind ‘me’, because what if I really lost it in the past? Will that change the experiences that I will have had through the course of the past 4 years?

The answer was a flat out no. It’ll probably would not affect my life that much.

My brain then tried to search for an object that lasts, and there it was. My theme for this project. ‘Constants’

Time being contained in a jar.

‘Constants’ are things that I will like to capture in this project, things that will remain the same no matter what I lose or gain.

4 constants in life:

Gender (Birth)

Origins, parents (Aging)

Blood type (Sickness)

Loss (Death)

Fortunately, I was able to salvage a stack of objects that represents the 4 ideas perfectly.

However, something was missing, something with a more positive note. So the idea of an ‘illuminating heart’ came about.

Below are some of the shots that did not make it into the final product:

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Background is too dark, is not able to convey the message well, changed the fabric used as background to a lighter color.

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Color changed but position of watch is weird. Have to use a pencil to adjust the placement of the watch.

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‘Blood’ is not conveyed. It feels more like ‘wine’ due to the glass. Had to change the medium.

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Poor composition. Idea totally not conveyed from this picture. Background and concept is similar to another shot.

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Practicing for the actual shoot. Am using a real fire for the actual picture. Timer and slow shutter speed, have to hold that position for a long time.

To conclude, I plan convey a ‘self-portrait’ by showing things (mostly will give some facts about myself) that are constant in not only my life but for every single human being from the beginning of time. A bit ambitious, yes, but still have to try with all the new framing and technical skills that I’ve acquired from my generous friends.

Ideas and photography skills are improving day by day. Although frustrating, I feel very grateful to have my this assignment and many good friends to help push my creativity and techniques to its limit everyday. It is an enjoyable process.

 

-KJ