Artist's Statement:
Sins, the unspoken, and relationships – these three intrinsically linked elements are a foreboding unholy trinity that lurk omnipresent in our daily lives. Working with the basic concept that every one of us is a sinner, my works in this series aim to deconstruct and expose the inherent “demons” within a person that lead us to sin in ways seemingly harmless yet devastating to ourselves and the people around us. Only when we can confront and reconcile with the evil in us can we emerge from the darkness and find contrition.

Inspired by the "violent, dangerous” and “theatrical" musical style and lyrics of alternative rock band My Chemical Romance, my images infuse the feeling of popular culture with a dramatic mood that tends towards the brooding. Also, instead of real people, my works feature my ball-jointed dolls as subjects. The connotation of outward flawless beauty and perfection that dolls carry, contrasted against the theme of flawed human nature that my works deal with, serve to heighten the surreal discrepancy between theme and metaphor. By evoking disjointed emotions, we will hopefully be inspired to ponder and reflect upon our inner selves and the similar incongruity that inevitably occurs between the sinners we are inside and the benign mask that we present to others in our everyday interactions.

So say goodbye and say goodnight/To the last parade, when the parties fade/And the choice you made/To the end.

(These are just the pieces I submitted. To see the gorgeous works that the others have done, do visit the group blog to see how our entire project progressed!)


The Black Parade
A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams/Your misery and hate will kill us all.
Everybody is ugly inside. The hatred, the envy, the innate ability to hurt others upon a whim – and when we allow such toxic emotions to take over us, we are slowly killing ourselves, eating away at what we were and what we could be until there is nothing left. So let yourself perish in your own self-destruction. Welcome to The Black Parade.
( 3 other pieces. )

Sorry this update is really late. Anyway, for this assignment, we were supposed to create a photomontage in artist David Hockney's style, which he called "joiner". For the uninitiated, a photomontage is "the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs".

This assignment is admittedly the one I have found most challenging so far, mainly because so much pre-visualization is required to create a good photomontage. I usually do not plan much before taking my shots, so the exercise helped me to develop crucial thought-process skills and hone my ability to process an image way before it has even been captured through the lens. One of the main problems I faced while doing this assignment (in addition to having the computer lag painfully as it processed all my images at once) was that I did not have enough images to create the full photomontage as I had visualized and planned before I went out to shoot. As a result, I had to return to the location on another day to take more pictures, and the tones and white balance of some parts of the montage do not match up. To look at it in a positive light, this adds to the 'disjointed' effect that I feel a photomontage is supposed to evoke in the viewer.

I have interpreted the theme as something apocalyptic and destructive, something fatal. The day after the last day of the apocalypse, perhaps. Inspired by the German band Tokio Hotel's song, Der Letzte Tag (The Final Day), of which you can listen to and watch here. :) This is my final piece, which differs in colour from the one I presented during tutorial:

I just can't believe the day has come
When our clocks stand still
The horizon seems to disappear
And all our dreams are unfulfilled

I can feel the end is near
It all has come, as we had feared
And if our final day has come
Let's pretend to carry on
And if the end has now begun
Live on
Live on

This is our final day...


( +2 drafts. )
After the tutorial presentation, I realized that my photomontage lacked the 'montage' look as compared to those of my classmates. Perhaps this is due to my not cropping the individual images small enough, or not using enough images in the creation of the montage. To try and rectify this, I have re-cropped and re-positioned some areas of the finalized image so that the montage will appear less like a 'whole' picture and more like an image made up of the sum of all its parts.

Also, there was a major problem with how the printed image turned out. Due to an oversight and carelessness on my part, I forgot to change the resolution of the image in Photoshop before I sent it to the printer. The person at the printer's then changed the resolution (in the already flattened image) for me, causing the image output to become pixellated. However, I have since reprinted my final image, this time taking care to change the image resolution as appropriate.

Compared to the rest of my assignments presented in class so far, this one did not receive many comments outside of the printing error (pixellation) and how it appeared more like a 'whole' image rather than a montage. Based on the critiques I got, I learnt that I have to really pay more attention to preparing my images for print, especially when it comes to more technical areas like print/web resolution and colour management. Technical errors such as this can make or break an image. With regards to the lack of a 'montage' feeling, I observed my classmates' images and realized that perhaps this flaw was due to the way I arranged my images. To properly arrange the numerous photos in a proper montage-esque manner is still something I am working on.

Among all my classmates' works, I really liked Shena's piece. It's amazing how she managed to convey the feeling of movement and 'travel' via the snaking railway tracks, and how she pieces her photos together in a way that is coherent, and yet which forces us to consider questions of how our choices in life very often seem to be insignificant in themselves but eventually, inevitably add up to the larger whole. She also obviously put in a lot of effort for her piece (400 pictures!), which is really admirable.

I'll rate her a 96/100, and my work 80/100 against hers.

We live in a country where only thing which is constant is change. Create a photo essay of 8 to 12 pictures on the above theme.
------------------------------------------

Change can be interpreted in many ways. At first, I thought of taking photos had a sense of contrast, i.e. the old and new; the living and dying. This would show how things are ever-fluctuating, that everything is subject to change whether you like it or not.

However, after I ran this idea by my family members, the general opinion I got was that this interpretation was a bit cliched and overdone. ^^ After more thought, I then decided to portray in my photos the things that have been left behind by change (of any kind - economic, urban, social etc.), and possibly raise the question of what happens after these changes have taken place.

I took this set at the Malayan Railway near Bukit Timah/King Albert Park, as I wanted a location that would seem rustic and, in a way, left behind by modern urbanization. I had lots of fun exploring the railway, it's something that I've always wanted to do!

For these photos, I processed them to be entirely desaturated except for certain focal areas that would have a faded colouration (except for the last 2 pictures). This was done firstly to try and bring out the idea of 'change' in a visual, most literal manner. Also, I wanted to convey a melancholic, nostalgic mood to show how time has seemed to stop in this part of cosmopolitan Singapore, untouched (so far...) by the reaches of urban change. The last two pics have a stronger sense of colour to depict a sense of disturbance as development slowly but surely extends its clutches over this place, and the consequences of such urbanization over the environment and its residents.

This is my photo essay, entitled 'What's Left Behind'.
------------------------------------------


The Road Less Travelled
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/400 sec.
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 55.0 mm
( +8 more. )
Evaluation: Doing this assignment was rather a challenge for me because I usually prefer to shoot portraits of humans and dolls, rather than of nature/places/things. Also, the only photostories I've ever attempted doing all involve dialogue, actors and a literal storyline, haha. It was also quite tedious and tiring, since the railways were quite dirty and muddy and it was a sweltering day. Then there was the problem of having to constantly keep a lookout for oncoming trains while shooting. ^^

However, in the course of taking this photo essay, I learnt a lot about how to shoot objects in such a way as to convey meaning and atmosphere. I think I did put in effort into this assignment, although admittedly I'm not entirely satisfied with the images I got. The critique received was that I have a strong sense of personal style, but I'm not entirely sure what style that is...? The dark/emo kind, like some of my classmates have said? XD; Since I've gotten such comments, I will work harder to maintain that style so that I can produce better, more unique images.

For self-rating, I would give myself 80/100 for this set. This is in comparison to Gerald's work, which is awesome in concept. I think it's a very original and honestly real interpretation of the theme, in the sense that the paradox between what we wanted to be when we were young and what we are now is something that many people, especially myself, can identify strongly with. I wanted very much to be a psychiatrist or forensic pathologist since young, but am now pursuing an entirely different course in life because of the lack of academic inclination in the sciences and mathematics. I was impressed by both his technical skill and especially when he explained his concept. I would give his work 89/100.

Like many others, I was also touched by Yikang's work. The emotion and nostalgia behind each shot is undeniable, and I like how he managed to convey a hard-hitting sense of loneliness and abandonment (slightly eerie though, but I like) with his well-chosen wide-angle shots. Although I'm not a student of his JC, the fact that his work could move even non-students is proof of the power of his images. I would give him 95/100.

Some random shots I took a few days ago of Akito, another one of my dolls. I wanted him to portray a dashing, romantic leading man (groom? XD) of sorts.

Just trying to get comfortable with shooting in manual mode after using the auto functions for so long, as well as to play around with natural lighting coming into my room at an angle during the twilight hours. I have no idea why my shutter speed and aperture readings are so weird for some of the photos... what I did was to adjust both settings according to the exposure meter, so that my images would not turn out underexposed.


The Proposal
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/8 sec.
Aperture: F4.5
Focal length: 55.0 mm
Original image here.


The Promise Of Forever
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 0.5 sec.
Aperture: F9.0
Focal length: 52.0 mm
Original image here.


The Unintended
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 0.3 sec.
Aperture: F9.0
Focal length: 55.0 mm
Original image here.


双生児 -Souseiji-
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/6 sec.
Aperture: F18
Focal length: 55.0 mm
The concept for this shot is slightly different from the rest, in the sense that I wanted something eerie and more strange in concept and composition. After taking the aforementioned photographs, I decided to take a rest and placed my doll on the floor, looking out of the window. That's when I noticed that his reflection on the glass pane was surprisingly clear, and would make for a rather interesting shot... something like the inner conflict between a person's inherently good and evil personas, materialized as his reflection. I had problems adequately capturing what I saw in real-life onto the camera, because the buildings in the background and the light kind of washed out the details of my doll's face. After many shots, this was the one that I was considerably more satisfied with.

Observe how light interacts with object creating shadow and sense of depth. How colours change their saturation through dawn to dusk. How light create patterns and how shadows make texture feel tactile.

Explore image capture techniques to create sense of space and time of real world in your prints.

Objective is to develop control over image creation process. An ability to previsualise, to know exactly how a print will look before you release the shutter.

------------------------------------------

I spent a lot of time thinking about this assignment, mainly because I had absolutely no idea what to photograph (and the assessment criteria sounded really tough!). That, and the fact that I now had to shoot on manual rather than auto mode (which I usually do despite having a DSLR) made me rather stressed about the whole thing.

In the end, I decided to just go out and shoot stuff that I usually shoot - that is, my dolls. Embarking on the hobby of collecting them was the reason I got interested in photography in the first place, so I suppose it's only natural that they become 'models' for my work. So yes. This is Antonio Garcia, my little Spanish-Italian Mafia Don. :) He's my chosen photography subject here because I felt that his face details (scar and all) would be more condusive to fulfilling the criteria of this assignment.

One of the challenges that I faced was that photoshopping the image was not allowed. Considering that I almost always photoshop my images to some degree to do colour correction, curves adjustment etc., resisting the urge to digitally post-process my images was hard. But then again, that's exactly the point of this assignment... to train the ability to see what the final printout will look like so that the need for post-processing is more or less eliminated.

That said, here are the images I shortlisted for presentation. I took quite a few, but these were the ones that I liked/felt something for. The rest can be seen at fatalrevolution, if you're interested. Those are post-processed though. Sorry, the images here are not placed under a cut so that classmates who might not be familiar with LJ will be able to see my photos without too much hassle.

------------------------------------------

A Man Has Only One Destiny
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec.
Aperture: F5.6
Focal length: 37.0 mm
The journey of no return into the fatal confines of the criminal underworld. Family loyalty and the damning omertà, the Sicilian mafiosi vow of silence, means that he can never turn back to the light, and there is no way out except with death.

This is the shot that convinced me about the pros of having manual control. Although the tunnel I shot this in was dark, with only a bit of backlighting at the other end, the shot turned out better than I expected because I was able to adjust and control exposure, shutter speed and aperture to suit the amount of natural light I was getting. I admit I'm still unsure as to what the different combinations can do... what I did was to turn the dial and adjust these elements according to what I read on the camera's exposure level indicator. As I feel that this image is able to adequately show some degree of control, I decided to mount and present this in class.


City Stalker
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: F5.6
Focal length: 51.0 mm
Watching, and waiting, an imposing creature clad in the most aggressive of blacks and the coldest of cruelties in his eyes.

I slightly underexposed this (by er, 1 or 2 stops I think) as I wanted a dark, shadowed feel to the picture. There was another variation to this image, where the entire wall was in focus, leaving my doll blurred in the background. However, having the wall in focus but not the doll seemed rather meaningless, in the sense that not much drama or storyline could be seen from it. Hence this version instead. :) I also mounted and presented this image to the class because I like the atmosphere it depicts.


Uomo di rispetto
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/15 sec.
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 50.0 mm
A man of respect - a just man, a friendly man, a reasonable man - the deadliest lord of the Cosa Nostra.

Apparently my classmates like this photo a lot, although it was not part of the 2 main pieces I presented in class. XD The feedback I got from my brother is that this photo has 'feeling', and that my doll is emoting rather successfully, haha. Actually I do like this image too, except that I forgot to change the white balance in the camera, which caused my doll's skintone to turn out rather orangey. Such a flaw bugged me quite a bit, which is why I did not select this image as one of my main pieces. However, considering the favourable audience reaction that I got, I think I will use this image as one of the 2 final photos to be presented in my portfolio.


No Room For Repentance
Camera: Canon EOS 400D
Shutter speed: 1/40 sec.
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 45.0 mm
His gaze is discerningly aloof, a self-declared god watching the ebb and flow of lives. Some he has taken, others he has set free. Paltry emotion is not a word in his world, a world where money and power are the only languages spoken.

I was trying to achieve a cinematic effect for this photo, and was quite satisfied with it at first glance. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the exposure was a bit off and that I did not manage to capture enough detail in the background. .__. I still quite like the composition of the image though, and the slightly melancholic, contemplative feel it portrays (I think).

------------------------------------------
Self-evaluation and peer evaluation:
What irked me about my photos was how dark they came out on print. It was darker than what I saw on my computer screen, and the details and texture of the clothing were not visible unless I looked at the prints up close. From where I was seated in class, the clothing was just one big mass of blackness. I will have to learn more about the printing process and better manage my colours so that details and texture of the photographs will not be lost in the actual prints.

But all in all, I'm rather satisfied and relieved with how these photos came out despite it being my first time using the manual settings in my camera. I think I'll be shooting in manual mode even for casual photoshoots from now on! If I were to judge myself based on my classmate's and Mr. Reddy's comments and the time and effort I took in shooting these, I'd give myself 80/100. Not lousy, yet not fantastic either. In terms of drama and story told by the pictures, I think I managed to achieve that to a certain extent? Though regretfully, my photos are not as deep in meaning as some of my other classmates'.

I particularly enjoyed Xinying's work because I felt that her images are photojournalistic in a sense that they are very unpretentious and honest, portraying a kampung nostalgia that I think everyone can identify with. Plus they look really professional! I'd give her a 95/100.

As again, thanks for reading through all that! Comments and critiques are much appreciated.

Most of the early images chemically captured on a flat medium did not use any optical device (camera). They directly placed simple objects on a surface coated with photosensitive chemicals and exposed it to light. In those days these were called "photogenic drawings".

You’ll make your first photogram using flat bed scanner instead of photosensitive paper. The theory is similar. By placing objects directly on the scanner bed in an interesting composition you can create an image without a camera.

------------------------------------------

So we were tasked to create a photogram that would represent ourselves. It was challenging for me to come up with a concept at first, because I feel that human beings are multi-faceted, complex creatures, and it would be difficult to come up with an image that would be both artistically appealing and also sufficiently tell the viewers about the kind of person I am.

After some thought, I decided to focus on one aspect of myself - something that I like, which currently is the Cosa Nostra, or the Sicilian Mafia in New York. I've always been rather interested in reading about organized crime, criminology, forensics, the psychology of criminals, and stuff like that. And this is what I came up with (with thanks to Shuui and Elsie for the picture of Elsie's Stefan):



- Concept -
To portray the 1950s/1960s Mafia-era feel, I tried to create something that would have that film noir, gothic element to it. Hence the use of darker and less saturated colour tones. The idea was to show an image that is subtly chilling, yet in its own strange way also inherently romantic.

- Elements
Lace: I initially wanted to use the lace as a 'border' to give the photogram a widescreen effect, so it would resemble a film still. However, I discovered that if I shifted the lace too far up into the picture, the black would be overwhelming and indeed even suffocating. After some adjustments, I decided to only slightly edge the image with the lace, so it would still lend some texture and bordering effect to the entire photogram.

Background: The background is comprised of layered pieces of scrapbooking paper (one transparent and one opaque, both with grunge texture) with tracing paper. I chose paper with a deconstructed and grungy feel to give a bloodstained and 'dirty' effect to the background, so as to better depict the idea of a bloody, violent Mafia. I think the background worked rather well because it managed to arouse my classmates' curiosity, and they wanted to know how I created it.

Tulle: This was to create a slightly dreamy, textured effect, and add to the illusion of a foreground and background so the photogram would be more 3-dimensional.

Withered rose and scattered rose petals: I used a dying rose and dried rose petals instead of a fresh one to symbolize death, something that the Mafia would inevitably work hand-in-hand with. It also serves to bring a coldly romantic touch to the image, the juxtaposition of love (which roses are supposed to represent), decay (moral and emotional perhaps), and death.

Gun and hit-list: These elements help to add a human touch to the image, and create a possible story behind the photogram that might make it more interesting to the viewers. What the viewers are seeing, then, could be a hitman's desk after he has been ordered by the Mafia Don to get rid of certain people... it's entirely up to the viewer to imagine.

- Self-evaluation -
Overall, I think I would give myself er, 85/100. I'm pretty satisfied with how everything turned out, considering it was really a hit-and-miss kind of thing. (i.e., I kept scanning with different elements and positioning to find the best combination...) However, it definitely can be improved, such as by experimenting more with lighting and more creative ways of making texture, like what some of my classmates did. When I presented my work, it was pretty well-received, though someone did suggest that I add an old map of sorts as part of the background to put the image into further context (Gangster-era New York, etc.). I think I will try that for the final image to see how it turns out.

- Peer evaluation -
Although there were quite a few photograms that impressed me greatly, I'm going to narrow it down to 2 of my favourites:

Xinying's photogram amazed me with the sheer amount of creativity that she used in creating the textures, colours and patterns. When she presented it in class, I was impressed at how she managed to think of using soapy gelatin water as the medium. :) Can't figure out how she managed to do it, but do take a look! It's really pretty. I'll give her 97/100 for the awesome.

Xiuhui's photogram was beautiful too, but in a quietly melancholic way as compared to the vibrancy of Xinying's creation. I like how hers managed to turn out like an old painting, and the texture she used for the background. It made everything look like it was painted on canvas I think. :) The composition and placement of the various elements also gave her photogram an 'advertisement' sort of feeling, albeit a nostalgic yet calming one. I'll give her 95/100 for her work of art.

Thanks for reading through all that! Comments and critiques are much appreciated. :)