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.....

Digital Photo Media: Camera Obscura By Abelardo Morell

His name is Abelardo Morell. He is one of the best photographer I have ever knew, introduced by my lecturer. A photographer who uses the natural light and the surroundings as his subject. He is well known in the photographic community for creating camera obscura images in various places around the world and photographing these. A Boston based photographer but was born in Cuba. I really love his unique approach. Very abstract and imaginative, as if we are in a magical land. He turns the darkened room into a magical landscape. He used to block all the possible sunlight with black plastic, making the space as dark as a cave, cut a dime-size hole in the material so that the light will pass through. The image formed will be inverted. The camera obscura received images just like a human eye, through the small opening and upside down. Light from outside enters the hole at an angle, the rays reflected from tops of objects, like trees, coursing downward, and those from the lower plane, say flowers, traveling upward, the rays crossing inside the dark space and forming an inverted image. I really admired his creativity and technique. Something different. I might want to give it a try one day. 

Storytelling 3: Lost on Planet Xyro (Based on a Journey)

“Mayday mayday, our ship is being hit by some kind of asteroid!!”

“We need assistance and back up right now as soon as possible!!”

“Boom!!!”

I looked about me at the desolated landscape. I realized that I was the sole survivor. Our ship had actually crashed on a planet known as Planet Xyro. The planet had been called that as there were very few things on it which could support life. Unfortunately, I was on it. I am totally doomed unless they sent me rescue ship.

Me and my fellow crew were on a journey to search for the lost Earth’s settlement on the planet. One of the Earth’s settlement on Planet Xyro had gone off the air a month ago. Earth’s government is concerned about it and there were many speculations made as to what could have happened to them. To the best f our knowledge, the planet was not inhabited by other beings. The planet itself is fertile at only one end and so the settlement had established itself there.

They were to make radio contact once a day to report that all was well. They had not called for months and this has made us on Earth worried. We had been sent to see what might have happened to them. Coincidentally, our ship crashed landed here after being hit by an asteroid. Our journey itself had taken a month, so it meant that we had not heard from the settlement for quite long time.

I buried my friends and said a short prayer to the Divine One. Then I seized hold of the survival kit and walked away. I could expect to be rescued in a month’s time. The desert sun was furious and I rationed my food and water supply. I decided that if I wanted to survive for a month, I had to reach the fertile side of the planet. I took my bearings and walked. It took me a few nights of walking before I came to an oasis. I walked at night and rested during the day. Here in planet Xyro, the day and night cycle is much faster than in Earth. The journey to the fertile side was endless and I almost gave up.

Before long, I realized the hopelessness of the situation I was in, but love of life made me struggle on. Then one day, I had it. I decided that I could not move another step and laid down to die. I must have passed out. When I woke up, I realized I was in a home. The lady who was attending to me explained that they had found me in the sand few hours ago. I was dying. I realized then that this was the earth settlement. They were alive and well. Only their radio had broken down.

I stayed with them until another rescue mission came to rescue us two months later. I did not go back to earth but stayed on at Planet Xyro as one of the settlers. I just grew to like it and the simple life it offered. Finally, my journey has ended…..

Storytelling 2: The Old Warrior (Based on Location)

Labrador park, one of the historical site in Singapore. This is where the battle took place between the British and Japanese soldiers during the Japanese Occupation. I love spending my time there, jogging through the nature trails and taking photographs of the old relics of World War II like the bunkers and the old forts. On every Sunday morning, I would definitely go here and this place is also where I met the Old Warrior...

He was an old Malay man. His name is Pak Hassan. At ninety years old, he was as healthy as a fifty year old man. He walked erect and and often see him strolling the nature parks and along the coast. He's usually alone, all by himself.

So one day, while I was taking photographs there, he approached me. I was surprised! From what the other joggers and strollers told me, he was an arrogant man. He doesn't talk much. Well, he seems friendly to me. What made me more surprised was that, he was a war veteran who had fought during the Japanese Occupation. Somehow, he had survived all the battle that he fought in.

Every time when I meet him, he would often tell stories of his glory days. He told me that he used to fight alongside with the late Lieutenant Adnan Bin Saidi, who has fought the Japanese in the Battle of Singapore. He is regarded by Malaysians and Singaporeans today as a hero for his actions on Bukit Chandu. Fortunately, Pak Hassan survived that battle. No one knew that he was the sole survivor and that was also his last battle.

He lived alone. He was looked after by a part-time maid, whom he remunerated very well. His wife passed away a long time ago and his daughter had left him. He really missed his daughter so much. It’s been a really long time. After he left the army, he worked as a clerk. He was a workaholic and had no time for his family. One day, his wife was hospitalized as she was suffering from pneumonia. He was at work, too busy. He was not aware that his wife has been hospitalized even though his daughter had tried to call him many times. The hospitals call him about it and rushed to the hospital. But it was too late. His daughter blamed him as the cause of her mum’s death.

For now, deep within him, he had only one wish… he wanted to die fighting, like a warrior once again, like most of his war comrade had done. Peace bored him.

Then one day, it happened. Pak Hassan was on his way to Labrador Park to meet me as usual when he heard a muffled cry for help. Taking his sturdy walking stick in his hands, he went towards the noise. A robbery was in progress. A middle aged malay lady was asked to removed from her car and valuables. Pak Hassan charged at them and taken by surprise, the robber took some time to recover. Seeing him as an old man, the robber pushed him aside and laughing all the while. Pak Hassan staggered to his feet and struck the robber’s head with as much force as he could. Like mad man he struck out at the robber.

Meanwhile, the lady screams attracted passers-by. I was on my way there too. When me and some of the passers-by arrived to the scene, we saw the bewildered robber. One of the guy pounced upon the robber while I called the police. The lady went to her rescuer. He laid still. Then she burst out crying. Turns out, the lady was Pak Hassan’s daughter. She intended to visit and seek forgiveness from Pak Hassan as she misses him too. Well, it was too late. Pak Hassan was no more. He had got his wish and had gone like a warrior… fighting.

Digital Photo Media: Beneath The Roses By Gregory Crewdson

His works seems less like a photograph, but it rather more look like a moment captured from an epic film. American photographer Gregory Crewdson, has achieved in creating light as part of his subject in his photography. Light has play an important role in photography has it helps to create the emotion needed in that particular photograph, create space and a depth of field into it.

Gregory Crewdson shots are full of quiet moments where you can tell that something gruesome has just occurred. He is known for building large scale sets on which he stage his shots, including hanging spotlights in the sky and using almost cinematically-scoped wide lenses. His pictures are intimate and epic. There is some dark notion into it at the same time.