It’s been said that Singapore would not be as productive without air-conditioning technology, because everyone would be taking siestas in the warm and humid climate! Whichever the case, the air-con culture has led to striking facades of air-con units dotting the surfaces of our buildings. Another common feature is the presence of birds swooping in flocks through the built up areas.
Chiaroscuro literally means light and dark. It refers to an interplay of light and shadow on or as if on a surface (from Merriam Webster).
It is a technique used by painters to describe the use of strong contrasts of light to achieve a sense of volume. The strong contrasts generated using chiaroscuro creates an exaggerated sense of lighting that is rarely seen in the natural world.
Yet such paintings seem compelling. Paintings and drawings fascinate because they are an artist’s interpretation of a subject. These are compelling, simply because they are a window into the mind of another person. To me, paintings incorporating chiaroscuro are engaging because they show how an artist views the world.
Photographs are data collections. There surely is no better representative of our current informational age than the digital photograph. Every photograph carries the implied meaning of being objective, being pure data. But it also means a snapshot carries no interpretation. It is only when we sense a filter through another mind, that we begin to call something art.
Photographers have to isolate subjects through selective focus, or careful framing. Painters do not have this issue, they simply do not include anything which is irrelevant! This got me thinking: Other than cropping viewpoint or making something abstract to photograph, can the medium of digital photography rise from being a set of data points to embody meaning?
Is there something I can learn from artists using an age-old medium which I can apply to photography? It occurred to me that, just as painters and illustrators express themselves with brushstrokes and graphite, I can also use the innate characteristic of photography to isolate and to express myself. And such a characteristic of photography I am using is Time. What you see are selections of the same scene from the daytime contrasting strongly with the darkness of night. The overall effect reminds me somewhat of woodcut artworks. The forms and content that are interesting becomes richer, through the contrast of light (day) and dark (night). Somehow the juxtaposition of time creates a sense of completeness for me.
Rochor Centre is a place that has meaning to many people. It is a housing complex with commercial spaces at the lower levels and located in a part of town that is fairly central. It used to be bustling with activity as people who lived inside the complex mingled with people from elsewhere come to town to do their errands. Unfortunately it has to make way for a road, and so I hope this is a fitting memory to Rochor Centre and its vibrancy in its heyday.
This piece is a hybrid of Time is a Dimension technique and also the technique of Temporal Chiaroscuro. It worked out well, to my surprise.
As sunlight fades to night from right to left, my impressions of this garden atop a HDB carpark takes over. Singapore is rather proud of its description as a Garden City, but what I find more fascinating are the unplanned versions of urban planting.
On a personal note, this place used to be where I stayed with my wife and children for more than 5 years.