On Saturday that just passed, I did my very first photo walk under the Singapore Memory Project (SMP). This is a nationwide movement which aims to capture and document precious moments and memories related to Singapore; recollections not merely from individual Singaporeans, but also organisations, associations, companies and groups. I feel that this is such a meaningful project and am glad to be a part of it. The photo walk was led by famous street photographer, Aik Beng Chia (commonly known as 'ABC'), and I love what he said during the introduction before the walk commenced. He said that a photograph we capture now may not seem that interesting or significant, but ten, twenty or fifty years down the road, it will be an important piece of history of Singapore. Totally agree!
A group of about 10-12 instagramers joined the photo walk, and ABC brought us on a three-hour walk round Chinatown, sharing with us bits and pieces of history, and also showing us interesting spots & subjects to talk photographs. We took instagrams and photographs with our cameras along the way. By the way, if you have captured any interesting photos of Singapore on instagram, you can also hashtag #sgmemory, and all the photographs would go towards the archive for the Singapore Memory Project.
The sun was merciless, but it was definitely the perfect weather for photo walks with abundant sunlight.
I really like ABC. He's humorous, down-to-earth and very approachable.
Baby Jayne came along too. Everything in Chinatown is a piece of vintage to her. :D
We popped by the Library @ Chinatown (I didn't even know there's a library in Chinatown Point!) for the Singapore Memory Project exhibition. The exhibition is at every library in Singapore and each one showcases the memories of the residents in those areas. Pretty interesting!
The biscuit tin that we are all so familiar with!!!!
We were all enjoying the cool air-conditioning at the library, a reprieve from the merciless sun. :)
There're fun activities for the kids to do too at the exhibition. They can collect stamps of some of the familiar icons in Singapore - the dragon playground and the Courtesy Lion, for example. Not that Jayne could recognise any of them though. :P
Back to be under the sun again after checking out the exhibition, and ABC got some of us to do a layering pose like this. So cute!
Baby Jayne wanted to be carried most of the time, understandably so. It's not easy for a young kid to be walking for 3 hours in the hot sun! But she's such a sweetheart - she hardly complained.
ABC brought us to this interesting hotel which was a refurbished Chinese Opera House!
I've seen many of such sets in drama serials, but never been inside one myself. It was such a gorgeous place! Just imagine the hotel lobby to be where the stage used to be, and all the customers would be drinking tea and watching the Chinese opera performance from the circumference at all levels. Really awesome hotel with a rich history.
We walked through a back alley and found lots of such long ladders that led up to doors located high up at the 2nd or 3rd storey. Shortcut out of the house?
ABC brought us to visit 3 of the barbers still in operation at the back alleys. He has taken photographs of them so often that he's become friends with them. One did not open for business that day, another probably went to the toilet or was having lunch, and the third one had a customer, so we were told not to take any photographs. I witnessed the mutual respect and friendship between a street photographer and his 'subjects'. Nice.
Other trades we passed by along the way - Garung Guni station...
Bicycle repair Uncle
Funny Tour guide. =P
One of our final stops was at the last standing well in Singapore, covered up for safety of course. Tried explaining to Jayne what a well is used for, but she didn't seem to understand fully why people didn't use taps then. =X Well, never mind I guess.
Other photographs I shot that day! I love street photography - so much fun and so many stories to be captured! My instagram handle is klessislee by the way, if you wanna follow me! :)
Looking forward to my next photo walk! It's addictive, I say! :)
