Desmond Yong

name card design 1

2008-01-12T11:08:00.001-08:00

This is my first concept of my name card. any comments?

Eye the city

2008-01-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

Final Project

2007-11-30T02:28:00.001-08:00

In the mood for love

The following caption is not the exhibition caption but is something I felt about. This photo has 2 layers of meanings - the first one is the exhibition; the second one is as follow:

Li Zhen and Mo Wan is separated and both never see each other again. The photo is something I wanted to portray to show how Li Zhen would have felt at that moment....

In the mood for love....but where is the love?

Summary of my marks

2007-11-02T01:22:00.001-07:00

Here is the summary of my marks

1. Assignment One photogram - Advertising me -- 85/100

2. Assignment Two exposure - Exposure -- 81.5/100

3. Assignment Three Photo essay - Do things change with time? -- 90/100

4. Assignment Four montage - Marco & Mirco process -- 95/100

5. Assignment Five Creep - Light/Hope -- 90/100

6. Assignment Six photo analysis -- 90/100

Updated as of 2 Nov 2007

Singapore culture

2007-11-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

A reflection on singapore culture. Is there even one to speak of? In this modern world of globalization, major global corporation has influence the world and the world has become homogeneous. MacDonald, Coke, MTV have become a lifestyle and culture around the world. Singapore hence is of no difference. MacDonald and Coke can be seem around Singapore. The "fast food" generation can also be seen in Singapore. The culture of singapore is also seen more influence by others countries.

Therefore has Singapore lost its identity among the midst of the influence of the global economics? I believe there are still some subtle distinct culture that Singapore has developed that could be said to be 'Uniquely Singapore' (as like the Singapore tourism board slogan is). The sense of kiasu-lism in Singapore is one that is often seem as unique in Singapore and has been hugely been debated about. Example of Singapore parents trying to get their children to enroll into top school even way before the requirement age for enrollment is now seem as a joke in other countries. Parents often cite that as the country is becoming more developed, it also mean that it has become more competitive and hence the need to be enroll into the elite school so that their children can have a bright future. There are also instances of people queuing for freebies, hours and sometimes even days before the actual day. This sense of kiasu-lism has been often reported in newspaper and debate in television shows. Hence, this term 'kiasu-lism' has been come up by the media to reflect the Singapore culture.

Another culture is the example of elite system in Singapore. As mention in the previous example, parents often enroll their children into top/elite schools. The children are often judge by their parents and adults with their grades. A child with good grades are often deem as bright and smart and a good boy. However, a child with low grade are often deem as stupid and bad boy. This reflect the Singapore society as it become more develop, it has also become more competitive. This often result in unnecessary stress from the children to excel in their studies. In the more recent years, parents are not satisfy that their children have to good in their studies but have to excel in other areas like sports and culture. It is normal to see children having many extra activities after school that their parents have arrange for them. This has becoming a culture in SIngapore. To groom our offspring into a "Superman" -- someone who is good in everything. However, not everyone is a "Superman" and this has cause adverse effects in the children. The children are becoming more stress and this result in more children becoming depressed and some even ended up in suicide. And the children are getting more towards the elite system and this often make them more cold hearted towards some of the social problems in Singapore. They have become more self-centered and choose to turn their back away from the needy ones in Singapore. They are more focus on the materialism of the society. This has also sadly becoming part of Singapore culture.

However, these much been said; a question arises on the question of whether these Singapore cultures are really unique or are they the byproduct of a more marco scenarios that is happening around the world. As Singapore is a small country and faces strong competition with the rest of the world, it has no choice but have to force their citizens to be one of the best in the world because Singapore has only human resources to depend upon. As a result, some of the characteristic that is been mention above has arises.

In conclusion, Singapore culture although has been define as unique to Singapore by the local media, however on a closer look it might just be a byproduct/reaction toward the raise of globalization.

Assignment six - Reading Images

2007-10-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

This advertisement shows how the advertiser tried to fuse eastern and western culture together. In this presentation, I will speak about how each elements in this picture reflect a certain culture/meanings and how some of it actually reflect the insensitive sense of the advertiser.

In this advertisement there are chinese and western elements:

Western:

(1) Grim Reaper
(2) Toaster
(3) The dog ( jack russell is often deem as more western)

Eastern:

(1) The chinese lady
(2) The decoration of the house
(3) The text is in chinese

The advertisement is meant to target the young and modern Chinese market. The target group that are influenced by
the globalization and western culture. The advertisement display a mix of western and eastern culture to portray a modern
society in China. Therefore, only those who have seen/experience the western culture/media will understand what the advertisement is about. An example is the Che Guevara poster - only people who are expose to the culture of Che Guevara will understand the context of the poster.

Hence people who have exposure to the western media/culture, will then understand the meaning of the Grim Reaper. Grim Reaper is a culture symbol of the western media - a figure that was created by the western media. In the western media, the Grim Reaper is a representation of death - if he appear near a human, it represent that the Grim Reaper is trying to take away the human's soul. And it is the western media that always portray the Grim Reaper carrying a slayer. The slayer represent danger as it often show in western media that the Grim Reaper use the slayer as his weapon to take away people's souls/lives. Hence, as this advertisement is show in China, it can be said that the advertisement is targeted at the younger audiences in the country. People that are influence by the western media or globalization can understand the message behind the advertisement.

Another thing is the dog. In traditional chinese culture, families do not keep jack russell in their homes. Jack russell is a breed that is introduced by the western countries. Hence by putting jack russell in the advertisement, it bring about a certain sense of western culture influence.

Toaster is also another item that is brought by the western culture. In the traditional chinese, people use stove and charcoal to toast bread.

Therefore, by placing these western induced items into the advertisement, it "block out" certain group of people in the country - people who are not influence by the western culture. These people (e.g. farmers, older generation) will not understand what Grim Reaper and the slayer means. Although these people can know that jack russell is a kind of dog (because it signify a dog) but they might not feel relate to the advertisement as they never see jack russell before. Hence by introducing western/foreign elements into the advertisement, some groups will be "block out" from the initial message. Although it is targeted at the younger generation in China, it also shows a certain degree of insensitivity. For the chinese culture, people believe in chinese culture and religion more than western culture. Hence to the chinese society, people can associate the notion of death with chinese icon (e.g. vampires, chinese demon, king of Hades, etc) rather than Grim Reaper. Hence people in China will not "feel" for the advertisement because it is "too western" oriented. From these elements, it is an advertisement that is made by a western company who might not have research enough on chinese culture.

We made conclusion that the toaster on fire is dangerous because it is unusual for toaster to be on fire. We know from our everyday life that the toaster is meant to toast bread. If it is on fire, it means that the toast is spoilt. There the advertiser make use of our everyday knowledge to help us make reference to the advertisement. An example is the dog in the chopping board (picture below). The advertisement make use of our everyday’s knowledge of the kitchen and the layout of a normal cooking procedure. By making some “unusual” elements in both pictures, it will attract the viewers’ attention and make them relate to their prior experience. For example, the viewers know that the toaster is to toast bread and hence with fire, they can relate that something is wrong and it is dangerous. The chopping board in the cooking setting, with a dog shows that the dog might be meant to be killed and cooked.

During the tutorial, my classmates comment that it is common for toaster to be on fire. But however, the argument I wanted to make is no person will go to a store and buy a toaster with the intention to have it on fire! Hence the picture with toaster on fire is something unusual - not the normal function of a toaster. Another thing is the fire can be symbol for danger and other stuff. Example fire on the stove is something good - use of fire to cook. While in this case fire is a symbol of danger because it is in a context that depicts danger. Therefore an item can depict different meaning in different context.

Something interesting was brought out during tutorial. The Grim Reaper is made of bone and the dog is biting the hand which is made of bones. People, especially those who are not influence by the western culture, will see that dog is biting the hand because the dog want to eat the bone and not trying to save the woman. This goes to show that the company did not pay enough attention to the details and their meaning. Dog is known to eat bones and hence people will link this when they see this advertisement.

Another thing that the company fail to see is that they fail to notice that the danger and the Grim Reaper are at the opposite end of each other. This will give an impression that the dog is trying to prevent the Grim Reaper from attacking the woman and not trying to save the woman from fire.

People can only made out the meaning of this advertisement when they look at the chinese words below and the wildlife fund logo. The chinese text is "save it. and it will save you." meaning if you save the dog and not throw or kill it, it will one day save your life. It is only then people know that the dog biting the bones of Grim Reaper is to protect its owner. However as the Grim Reaper and the danger that it is representing is at opposite side, people might miss the connection that the Grim Reaper is trying to take away the life of the woman because she is sleeping and unaware of the toaster on fire beside her.

This advertisement is a classic example of how company who did not pay attention to the visual details/connotation of the items they place in the advertisement and the culture of their target market will cause people to misunderstood/ don't understand the meaning of the advertisement. This shows the importance of having understand the target market's culture (in this case is the chinese culture) and the different codes behind each items in the advertisement. Also the placement of the items and the logic of placing them is also very importance (in this advertisement, the danger and Grim Reaper is at opposite side, people might not able to relate that the Grim Reaper is a symbol for the danger of the toaster on fire.)

Rate: 90/100

Ability to read the advertisement in cultural context.

Assignment Five - Creep: Light/Hope

2007-10-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

Realism

This is a realism/objective shot of the flat opposite Laselle School. I just take a snapshot of the flat. Not making any statement, just trying to allow the viewers see what I saw.

Expressive

I pose the camera "looking up" at the flat which gives the flat a sense of power over the viewer and photographer. The shot of the flat shows the flat is dark but a part of it is lighted with a ray of sunlight. This is to express the feeling of light creeping in the flat and gives light to the flat. This reflect that amidst of dark situation, there will be a ray of hope creeping in somewhere. What one has to do is to find where is that ray of hope and go grab it.

Formlism

A reflection of the flat.

Evaluation of the assignment

It is hard to write and critics others for this assignment because of the fact that there is no 100% of realism, formalism and expressive. Very often its 52% to 48% of two elements in the photograph. Add with each different people's perception of each definitions make the whole critics difficult. However my personal opinion, I like xinying' s work cos it remind me of Wong Kai Wai's work haha.. However I felt the realism shot is abit expressive because of the red light. If use flash to brighten out the photo and remove the emotion of the red light, would the photo be more realism? But the red light is there naturally, so if took it out will be defeat the purpose of being objective in shooting realism shot?

Nevertheless I give myself 90% against her work.

Assignment Five - Creep: Go to Hell

2007-10-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

Realism

Expressionism

Formlism

During tutorial, the class ask that if the photo of figures which is a creation of other artists can be called your own photo. I agree with what was said hence I decide to redo this series. Therefore I will not be grading this assignment first.

Assignment 4 -con't

2007-10-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

This is the shot I shoot on the first day.

And if you compare it with the final picture, you will realise that the grass patch is different (i.e. the first day, there is not much construction whereas the second and third day there is tent and more construction.)

Assignment Four - The Day After: Micro & Marco process

2007-10-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

Micro & Marco process

In this photo montage, I trying to give the viewer of the details that my eyes can see (single perspective of camera vs multi perspective of camera). Hence I decide on doing a 180 degree panama of the scenery (which is also human angle of view). I also decided to find a focus/ objects for reference for each photo I took (e.g. some grass patch I focus on the workers, birds and the sky I focus on the DHL balloon). I believe that the painters can paint each details as they desire and the picture have many details and perspective. This is also something I wanted to achieve. I tried to capture as much details as I could with this montage (e.g. cars, cup noodles, workers, birds, tents).

In this piece of montage, I trying to show how when one looks at the minor details (micro level) will realize that I took the photos from different days (3 days in fact). However, if they look at the whole piece as itself (marco level), they find that it is the same picture and nothing has changed. In fact, the 1st day I went it is very sunny and hot. The sun is also directly above me and hence the photos I took of the building seems brighter. 1st day I also took some of the grass to show that actually nothing is on it. The second day, I only took a bit before it started to rain (so sad!). Therefore there are a few photos that the clouds are grey. The third day, it is a super cloudy day and some photos is correctly exposed. And also on the third day, there are workers on the grass and they are constructing tents and other stuff.

Therefore, I'm saying the day after will cause not much or noticeable change on marco level (i.e. national or international level) however on the micro level, the day after will be different from today.

For me to grade who I felt is the better among the class, I believe gerald's one is the best as it is something different as he shoot and flip, showing two same image. I find the concept new and interesting. It also shows what he saw and his perception of the image which might not be real in the first place. And hence I grade my grade against his as I gave myself 9.5 over his work. (I felt I should get higher grade because some of the grade should go to my effort/time taken to do this montage. It took me 3 days to shoot and piece everything together and piecing together is not easy. Haha so the extra mark I gave myself is to give myself some "rewards" for all my effort and time taken! :P

Photo Montage -Trial

2007-09-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Assignment Three Part II [Experiment - cross action process]

2007-09-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Experimenting with a technique called cross action process.

Amendment ( update on 2 Nov 2007)

I have decided to use this as my final piece. The explanation is on the previous blog. Please kindly refer to it for the explanation. The cross process give the whole piece an emotion.

Amendment grade: 90.

The reason for an increase of 15 marks is due to more people prefer my cross process and people also like my concept (something which I thought no one would understand). Therefore I gave 90 instead of 75.

Assignment Three - Change? Do People change with Time?

2007-09-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

Time is a linear sequential of events.
Things is always moving and hence changing with time.
Some people alway on the move while other stood still in the influx of time.
Some people wait for their turns to move while other it is their turn to move on.
Some people are always in the hurry while others does not regard time as a factor.
Some people's business is to wait for others to slow down.
Some people is to provide leisure for others that are in the hurry.

If time is a factor that causes change. But does it apply to everyone? If I were to go back at any point of time, would I be able to capture the same photos? If so, is time a factor of change for everyone? Is there a change here?

This is what my photo essay trying to bring about. This is because people often feel that as times pass, it will bring about changes. But sometimes people often repeat their process/routine. Hence is there change even as time pass? Sometimes people just stood still even as time pass. I'm trying to capture and juxtapose these daily life events where it will try that to some time is moving but not others. As a result, to some people time is causing change but not others.

I also decide to use my DSLR as a video camera so as to capture the influx of time. The following youtube is what I did with my DSLR. The purpose is to catch this influx (flow) of flow and how different people reaction differently inthis influx of time.

Feedback: After explaining to the class, I realize that this concept that I'm trying to bring across is to complex to be show in the 8 photos. Also after looking at my classmates' works, I realize that the best are those that offer simple and clear message.

Therefore I will try to simplify my concept and make it simpler. I will also make my background simpler and less cluttered.

I rate Gerald's work as the better one among the class as I like the simple yet distinct concept of change. I rate it as my base and mine 7.5 against his.

Assigment 2 -Exposure

2007-09-10T09:24:00.001-07:00

Depth - Bridge

EXIF - ISO 400; Shutter 1/250; Focal Length 47mm; f5.6

This assignment is to show depth, contrast and presence. I decide to shoot the bridge at the esplanade. The converging lines of the bridges are very distinct and hence it give a very clear presence of depth. And I allow the sky to overexpose as often thing on the photo that are overexpose or have hot spot will catch the viewer attention. The sky is at the center of the photo and hence draw the viewers to it and the two line of perspective (the two bridges) helps to bring the viewers' eyes from the top to bottom and to the boat at the bottom.

Mr Reddy's comment: The boat is too low; should bring it up higher.

75/100. I feel that the best photo to show depth is Mike. His landscape shoot is nice and show the depth. The sky is also dynamic. Hence I rate mine over his (100 for him).

Contrast - Fruit

EXIF - ISO 400; Shutter 1/60; Focal Length 79mm; Aperture f 18 (Canon 400D)

When the term contrast, I thought of fruits. Fruits is very colourful and is a textbook answer to contrast. Different fruits have different colour contrasting each other. So I took fruits in the fruits stall.

Mr Reddy's comment: Too many colours and most are strong colours and hence they are fighting for attention. He also say that contrast can b something more than colours. Different gradients of colour can also show contrast.
Some other comment: The lines of perspective is broken.

Hence I did another one (two in fact); on the same subject - fruits. This time round I think the subjects are better position and there is a point of reference.

Contrast - Fruits Two

EXIF - ISO 200; Shutter 1/200; Focal length 35mm; Aperture f 5 (Sony A-100)

This photo show three fruits and the yellow and green provide the background for the photo. A purple fruit is the point of reference in the photo. It is at 1/3 of the photo and hence it is easier to catch the viewers' attention. This photo does not have too many strong colours (unlike the first photo) and hence viewers will know where to look at. I personally like this picture very much.

8.8

I think Yi Kang photos of the landscape is nice. It shows what Mr Reddy say of contrast - that it doesn't need to be colours; gradient of colour will also show contrast too. Hence I use his work to rate against mine.

Contrast - Fruit Three

EXIF - ISO 200; Shutter 1/200; Focal Length 50mm; Aperture f 7.1

This is another photo of contrast. I was wondering if anyone thought this photo is better than the previous two? Hope to hear from you guys.

Amendment (Updated on 2 Nov 07)

I have added a new picture on the contrast one -Fruit Two as my final picture. And I gave it a 8.8.

So overall grade is: (75 + 88)/2 = 81.5

Project One - Photogram

2007-08-28T04:53:00.000-07:00

Advertising Me

Rating: 85/100

As I felt that it has achieved what I wanted to achieve in the first place as it indeed gave a feeling of an advertisement - as if I was "advertising" myself. And the product found in the picture are normally what I like to do - taking photograph (i.e the UV filter), watching movie (i.e the film), listening to music (i.e ipod and CD) and playing board games (i.e the scribble pieces and otella pieces). Putting my own picture and name on it, give a strong feeling of my own identity and the viewers will know that this piece is about me. I also think that my composition is a also pretty details but still not very clutter and confusing.

XinYing's work struck me as the best among the class - simply for one reason: experimental. A lot of people experimenting with light and motion but she experiment with bubble and liquid (forgot what she use already). And I think Mr Reddy would prefer a more experimental artwork. So rated her work against mine.