I have updated my other blog site with many new entries and pictures from my archive. In case you are wondering, those are wedding photos I have taken in Singapore.
Am still kinda thinking about how I could reenter the market as a wedding photographer, given my period of absence away from the country. Anyhow, do head over for a look if you are interested.
Make My Day :)
(I have to say, now I am hungry for cake!)
What’s Singlish? Japan has Engrish, Singapore has Singlish. Despite language campaigns, Singlish shall remain. “华语cool”, wat.
I have discovered imagekind.com, an online image gallery which also makes and ships fine art prints to interested buyers.
One of the nice things about them is that they carry a wide range of paper, many of extremely fine quality. Take for example those from Hahnemuhle - a German specialty paper manufacturer since 1584.
That certainly caught my utmost attention.
I signed up almost as soon as I discovered imagekind.com .
You can visit my imagekind gallery at http://mikeleecs.imagekind.com , and purchase fine art prints of my photographs. They would make fine art pieces in your home or office.
I have put up my wedding photography portfolio here:
Mike Lee CS makes wedding pictures
You are certainly most welcome to visit and refer me to your friends as their wedding photographer. Or hire me for your own wedding :)
Along with the new site has to be a new namecard too - here’s a peek at the front side:
I look forward to hearing from you :)
Crowded, it looks like. Intermission time it was.
It was when the MC announced that the BUTS was in its 11th year that I realised, “Gosh, it was so long ago that I attended my previous BUTS!”
And that was way back in 1996, when a bunch of classmates decided BUTS made a good class outing. It was also then I made some of my first pictures with a camera. I don’t quite know if I still have the film negatives around - I think I already dumped the prints, in my silliness - but I can still remember some of the pics I shot.
So 10 years later, I realise that
- BUTS is a lot better attended.
- It also does feel more crowded. (duh)
- The crowd gathers in size pretty early on.
- The crowd have become better picnic-ers.
- Lots more kids in the crowd; so lots more families.
- Now there’s that pesky wrist-tag.
- The sound-control guys have camped up further.
- And joined by… foot massage people!
- Lots, lots more people wielding handphones.
- Instead of Mark Chan doing a pre-dance performance, we have..
- School kids presenting some kind of Jap-Gothic inspired dance
- And so forth… change is constant, right?
The performances also seemed to include some more “modern” stuff, which I like. Sorry, the above picture doesn’t quite illustrate what I mean. In the interest of conservative readers, I will have to censor the photo of the muscular “Mozart” who happened to dance on stage bare-chested. Nay, just kidding. The traditional ballet program, which came up first — I didn’t enjoy them as much as the later segments.
I think BUTS is a nice way to spend an evening. Enjoying dance (as in watching) open-air, picnic-ing, soaking up the atmosphere with the rest of the audience.
Further surfing:
Singapore Dance Theatre - The group behind BUTS.
Okay, not quite under the stars yet - a couple waits for showtime. The ugliest thing on this entry will have to be the watermarks!
Aesthetically Yours, Singapore
This is a photographic exhibition by Yim Chee Peng, a photographer based in Singapore. The subject: well, scenes from everyday Singapore, from decades ago till recent.
What struck me was how friendly Yim was towards his visitors. When I arrived at the exhibition, I was surprised at the number of visitors present. And indeed, most of them seem to be “heartlanders”, the very audience he hoped to attract.
When you go to the exhibition at certain timings, you can pick up a free copy of his book of the same title, while stocks last. The first edition was published a year ago; the book was expanded with the encouragement of Minister Mentor Lee.
I had the impression that the MM’s office sponsored the second-edition, but it turned out that the sponsorship came from the corporate sector. Still, I thought it was great that it allowed Yim’s photos to reach out to a larger audience.
In some ways I was reminded of Yip Cheong Fun’s exhibition and photos. If you like Yim’s archive - a continual photographic documentation of the Singapore heartland for decades - you probably can find something of interest in Yip’s archive as well.
Yim had taken to publishing Aesthetically Yours, Singapore with his own funds in 2005. While browsing his exhibition, I came across his picture and comment about certain iron door structures of old shophouses not being part of the conservation plan of the authorities. Yim decided to document those structures and publish the collection into a calendar.
So in a way, even if the structures don’t end up living physically, it lives on in memory… and in photos.
With many young people (and older…) taking up photography, there’s no worry of Singapore missing a piece of today, when tomorrow arrives. The next time you step out of your house, take time to look and observe the Aesthetically Yours in Singapore.
A group of SYC singers at circle 3, Esplanade, during a rehearsal
The SYC Ensemble Singers continually surprises by extending the boundaries of choral performance. In this instance here, a group of singers sing from above the audience (ok there’s no audience because it was rehearsal time), while a bigger group sings a different part onstage.
One group on stage, the other right at the circle gallery
For more pics, visit http://photos.mikeleecs.com .
SYC’s home on the web is at http://www.syc.org.sg .