christography

This is wonderful. I remember a year ago when I made the trip here alone to find “Cow Books”  and it was really not that easy to find. But the walks around the little lanes really made it quite endearing! Ended up really quite liking the Naka-meguro neighborhood; not to mention the wonderful book store! Nice florist, book store manager (who promptly gave me a discount), Ramien store. 

This time round, May and I went back there again and I definitely had a much better time! It’s always nice to have friends who like the same things! Even the big drain looks nice - kinda reminded me of the one right outside my Ryokan in Kyoto, actually, except much wider and really, nice and lively drain. (yeah, and this is just the darn drain, right?!?)

More shops with better edited clothes. My fav Florist is no longer there, and I do suspect they’d moved on to another location, or, in the worse scenario, the number of florists have increased quite a fair bit and their business have dropped too much to be maintained! I will miss them, since theirs was more like a flourishing rainforest with many wonderful flowers and leaves! (Actually, quite like the Ropponggi florist I saw as well. Will make a trip there in the next few to see if I can catch them! 

Oh, Ramien store under renovation.. do hope that they come back after the reno!

My Baba House exhibition is finally up! I have decided to include photography as well as installation pieces. I’ve included the photos and one of the installation here.

If you are going, do look really carefully at the photographs, and you’ll see me in there as well! (I didn’t want to be just a spectator to this culture.) Don’t miss my ‘disco bag’ as well. 

Opening 25th June Call 62275731 (NUS museum) for an appointment to see the show. This is to ensure that the house doesn’t overload and thus preserving its integrity as a living heritage. 

See you all when I get back from Tokyo.

Just came back from Asia-europe Emerging Photographers’ Forum 2009, KL, with a sprain on my right hand. It’s not what you think; I hardly shot anything on my trip there.

I learnt:

1. How to present my works, should I ever get the chance to. Never bore your audience - let them bore themselves. 

2. History of Japanese girl photography. I’d wanted to ask about the possibility of ‘boy photography’ since the scene has been dominated by older men and now ‘girl’ photographers. I’m sure there are a huge bunch of boy photographers!

3. That Photoshop is really, really ok!

4. The importance of understanding history.

5. Being oneself.

6. Self-centered also boleh.

7. Malaysian roads are really, much easier to drive on, tho’ much more dangerous if you don’t know the ‘local rules’ of driving.

8. This, I’d know for the longest time - malaysian food is much better than singaporean food! And this has nothing to do with the fact that my dad was born in Malaysia.

this overwhelming sense of being enveloped and being excluded with the city just seems to cry for a series to be done.. I’ll keep this for now.

had to remove the last post as I felt it was really very unfair for me to be publicly educating someone so young. I removed it because of a breakfast meeting I had. It was with one of the most generous, and grounded photographer I know in my whole entire life. He happened to be in town and well, I needed a listening ear from someone who knew so much more about life than I do.

He’d been working on building a school, a festival, a collective of people with strong interest in photography, etc. All of which are things that I wished I’d and able to do. He hardly sleeps, but is always alert. He strongly believes in the people, and yet I’ve already given up. wah lao.. to be honest, one tough act to follow. But he gives me hope! 

I’ll now be looking at other avenues in which I can give of myself; rather than be angry that I’d been giving to people who are intent on selfish means. Need to learn to do that, as well. 

Wish me luck.

“Before this century shall run out, Journalism will be the whole press - the whole human thought. Through that prodigious multiplication which art has given to speech - multiplication to be multiplied a thousand-fold yet - mankind will write their book day by day, hour by hour, page by page. Thought will spread abroad in the world with the rapidity of light; instantly conceived, instantly written, instantly understood, at the extremities of earth, it will spread from pole to pole.

Sudden, instant, burning with the fervor of soul which made it burst forth, it will be the reign of the human soul in all its plenitude. It will not have time to ripen, to accumulate into the form of a book - the book will arrive too late. The only book possible from today is a Newspaper,” - Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, 1861.

after months of fighting with myself, I have now decided that circa will not be done this year. 

Thank you to those who have shown your generous support.