Digital Photo Media: Pierre Beteille's Photography

Pierre Beteille is a French Artist who is really really in good in manipulating portrait photography. But Beteille works are more focused towards self-portraits. He works as a photographer specialising in editing and manipulation. He used to be an Art Director for 10 years. He is also a web designer and flash designer. In his self-portraits, he digitally modifies his own face. I really like his unique approach in self-portrait. He mentioned that all his photos speak for themselve. His funny twisted approach is very cool indeed. It attracts the audience attention well. With the right lighting and composition, he is able express and show the emotion in his self-portraits. His work as gave me some inspiration for my upcoming school assignments.

Digital Photo Media: Life Without Gravity

This a series of photography work I did for my first Creative Visualisation assignment. All of us were told to take a series of photographs that are absolutely out of context. The photos have to also represent a new meaning into it. I had a lot of difficulties at first, figuring out what is the most suitable idea or theme for this project. Some of the ideas that were brought up was not good enough and it wasn't that strong enough. After tons of researching, brainstorming and consultation with my lecturer, I decided to take photos of me levitating. I titled my project "Life Without Gravity". I wanted to show how our daily life routines that we carried out will look like when there is no gravity on Earth such as reading a book, shopping in a supermarket and studying. I asked my friends to assist me in taking the photographs. It was a tedious process as I have to take to sets of photographs, one with me standing on the stool and the other just background without me. After that, import those photos in photoshop. Photoshop does wonders... In my opinion, I think i have did a good job in creating something out of context...

Digital Photo Media: Light as Subject (Exercise 2)

This is the series of photographs taken by me. The theme given from our lecturer was Light as a Subject. This is something really really new to me. I was abit blank and have no idea at all about the topic. After all the explanantion, research and consultation, I had a clear understanding about the topic.  I explored different kinds of techniques and ways to portray light as the main subject. Light painting, bokeh and some abstract shot. This assignment has helped me to have a better knowledge in handling and adjusting the camera. I have to be more observant of the surroundings and understand the uses of lights in photography.

The sunlight that is shining on them from behind creates the superhero kind of a feeling in to it. 

When I first showed this to my friend, they thought it was some futuristic modern buildings in Singapore. Actually, it's a multi story carpark at a HDB estate. 

An abstract way to use light as the main subject.

This is the silhouette of the Super tree at the Gardens by the Bay during sunset.

Here's another abstract photo.

This is the bokeh effect that I have tried. It's actually the Helix Bridge that connects the Marina Bay Sands and The Youth Olympics game Park. To create that bokeh effect, you just need to play around with the focus.

A light painting of me doing the famous anime pose, The Dragonball Z. It's one of the interesting way to portray light as the main subject.

Digital Photo Media: Hiroshi Sugimoto

Hiroshi Sugimoto, a well known Japanese photographer is currently dividing his time between Tokyo, Japan and New York City, USA. Sugimoto has stated that most of his work focuses on the expression of 'time exposed', or photographs serving as a time capsule for a series of events of time.his work also are based on transience of life and the conflict between life and death. He is deeply influenced by the writings of Marcel Duchamp, Dadaist and Surrealist movements as a whole. He is famous for his technical ability of using the 8x10 large format camera and extremely long exposure. His work is really incredible. In my opinion, he really did a very good job in portraying time in his work. Also a unique way of using the old cameras and long exposures.

I really admire his work. One of his best work was the "Theatres". A series of photographs involving the old American movie theatres and drive-ins. He used a folding 4x5 camera and tripod. Opened his camera shutter and exposing the film for the duration of the entire movie. The film project will be the only light source. The luminescent screen in the centre of the composition, the chairs and architectural details are the subject. The long exposure and unique lighting will give the photograph a surreal look as it is part of his motive in revealing time in photgraphy.

Another piece of his work which I really like is the 'Seascapes'. A series of photographs portraying seas and it's horizons. Sugimoto used an old-fashioned large-format camera to make exposures of varying duration (up to three hours). Various location were used such as the Artic Ocean and the Black Sea. The black and white picture are all at the same size and divided exactly in half by the horizon line. 

Storytelling 5: The Flight (Based on conflict between two person)

I suspected something from the start. If you have been in the business of security as long as I have been, you have a nose for such things. The two ofthem acted normal, but there was something about them that made me suspicious. I watched them closely. I was quite sure that they were terrorists and that meant is to hijack the plane. If they did, I really need to do somthing. I was not the Republic's top anti-terrorist agent for nothing.

As the flight took off, I saw them making signals at each other. I feigned sleep but kept my eyeshalf opened and observedtheir every move. I could not do anything as I was not entirely sure. It would have been a great embarrassment for us all if I had acted and then found out that my suspects were harmless farmers from somewhere. Then, I saw one of them walking towards the cockpit. I got up and went to the bathroom. In the safety of the bathroom, I loaded my revolver and waited.

I was right, it was a hijack. The captain's voice came over the intercom to tell us to remain calm.of course, everyone panicked. I kept still. I opened the door slightly and observed down the aisle. One terrorist was at the cockpit and another was coming towards me. He would check the bathroom. I braced myself. As soon as he opened the bathroom, I dragged him in and gave him a karate chop straight to his neck. He buckled as I expected. One more to go, I realised. I kept still.

I kept observing. Then the other chap came out slightly amd called his partner. Seeing there was no rejoinder, he came out a little bit more and called out irately. I aimed and plugged him right between the eyes. He fell forward dead. Coolly, I walked put and asked if everyones was alright. Everyone looked at me stunned.

Storytelling 4: Lost in Time (Based on an Item)

Time traveling is now possible in 2025. Me and my fellow scientist and engineers have created a watch that could turn back the time or fast forward to the future. You can call it a time traveling watch. I won a  noble prize for that achievement as it was best invention ever made in the history of the human world. Before we could actually release the product to the public, i actually tested it out on my own again, using myself as the subject.

I looked at my watch. It showed that I had been away from my home for only ten minutes. Yet the calender on the wall showed that it was one month later. Somehow, I had arrived in the future. I had been warned about this. Prof. Tan, my best friend and the assistant scientist for the project told me again and again that it was dangerous to fool around with the time traveling watch. But then, I wanted to see for myself what was possible and what not. It was not adequate for me to have book knowledge.

Looking for my wife, i wandered all over the house. She was nowhere to be found even my two kids. I looked at my watch. It was what linked me to my own time. All I have to do is to press button and I will be transported back to the real world. I decided to press the button. What I had been afraid of happened. Nothing. I did not move at all. Everything was still the same. I was lost in time.

I tried pressing the button repeatedly yet still, I stood there. Then I heard voices. It was my wife and kids. They were back home from somewhere. They walked in quietly ands stood looking out the window. Strangley, they looked sad  and fantastically enough, they did not see me. I screamed for them yet no reply from them. They can't even hear me. I began to realised that I am not there. At the living room, there was a photo of me on the wall. The strangest thing is that, there were flowers on it, signifying that I was dead. 

I knew that i wasn't dead. I'm standing right here. They could not see me at all. How did I die? That question kept coming back at me. I was totally freaked out. 

There my son asked my wife, "Will Daddy back home, mum...?" 

"No, son. I don't think so he will," she replied, "Uncle Tan told me that your dad is lost in time. He is here with us but in a different time dimension and we cannot see him at all. One day, he will returned. I am sure that he will find his way back...."

I sat down looking at the watch, not knowing what to do.....