Sound of Light

Sand workers

2005-04-20T23:54:00.000+08:00

I had a new family member, a little boy that came to the household, so the next few months is gotta be busy men! Lei has a new little brother and is thrilled and having fun the whole night. Well, it has been 3 long years playing alone in the house all by herself. Thought it's abt time Serene & me add a sibling for her. The little one is Shane Vee.

oh...abt the photo below....they're the sand workers. The interesting thing is this people are harvesting sand from the river bed for villagers to use for building works in the village where in Singapore we've to buy sand from Indonesia. Had always thot that sand is a free commodity just like air. Singaporean are probably the only people in the world that use money to buy sand for infrastructure development. It is also becos of this that we're ften held at ransom by regional countries for these"essential" commodities.

Again, this interesting picture is taken on Tri-X at Pundong, Indonesia. It was taken some time back in April 2004 and Pundong must have changed quite a bit to date. Heard that the bamboo bridge has been replaced by the concrete bridge. Sigh...what a waste to see something so meaningful and representative of the village being replaced by the urban decadence. Modernisation!

Footprints

2005-03-01T23:55:00.000+08:00

Some of you may have come across the Christian story of the footprints. It talk abt when this man was particularly met with setbacks in life and God was not with him becos he sees only one set of footprint on the beach. The story of course ends with the famous line that God was carrying him and that God was carrying him and thus there's only one set of foot print.

Caught this shot on the basaltic shores of the Indonesian coasts, the sand is black as the sand were previously lava.

The interesting things that caught my eyes was that all men set out to walk his own path but e's never able to "re-walk" the same path back. When u started walking yr own path, u set the pattern but to backtrack it's often impossible. It come to a point of no return for most cases. So, the next time u take yr next step, rethink.....do you need to turn back?

Maybe a lost sight today!

2005-02-28T17:28:00.000+08:00

I remembered sometime back when this photo was taken in May 2004 at Pundong, Yogyakarta, the people in the small village need to use the bamboo bridge to get to the mainland everyday. When I was there with some Indonesian photographers, they said that that's probably the last time we're seeing that bridge as the plight of the villagers have been raised in the international arena when National Geographic covers it. Financial aids poured in from foreign countries and it was decided that when the flood comes again and wash away the bamboo bridge, it will be built in place with a stroong permanent concrete bridge.

Reflecting on this story, I feel that a part of the local culture is lost. The bridge no longer have any significance to the villagers anymore or it will fade off over time. Maybe the newer generation of the villagers wouldn't have to live though the hardship of canvassing for funds to build the bridge periodically the flood comes. But they would probably not known how the simple bamboo bridge has served their humble establishment over the last countless years with the cycle of building & rebuilding.

Simplicity is Bliss

2005-01-13T18:44:00.000+08:00

The early morning breaks through the fog and warm the land. a lonely figure led his cow for a morning bath at the river. No rush for the morning bus or train, no dealine to meet, no boss to jump on you next. There is a "take it easy" pace of the “与世无争“feel about the whole scene. Time slipped past at a painful streak. But no rush, no urgency, no stress.

Taken on Kodak Tri-X, souped in Perceptol.

Circle of Light Fellowship

2005-01-03T11:27:00.000+08:00

Rain can't kill the undying B&W spirit

It was an inspiring day at Epsite Gallery despite all the rain. The Circle of Light Fellowship for B&W photo enthusiasts kick off with its 1st gathering on 2 Jan 05 at Epsite Gallery. Though it rained heavily the entire afternoon, I saw many B&W fellows braving the wet weather and turn up with their B&W prints. It shows the undyingspirit of the hardcore B&W aficionadoes.!!!

Really had to thank Mr Tan Haur at Epsite for believing in us. In the age where digital is taking the photo community by storm and popularity, getting a B&W movement to go on was no mean an easy task. The act of people making an attempt to attend despite the heavy rain shows that kind of fervour that the B&W communbity had. From the group, many perceive it as a gathering for only traditional darkroom people. But this is not. We also welcome digital media so long as it is featuring a monochrome rendition of an picture.

The session went bvery well with many members showing prints of high quality. Kex, PNChong, Oszzy, Greg, & all others made the session a wonderful learning experience. Seems B&W is still putting up a resistance to its extinction. Well, the turn out was a little disappointing with 18 person turn out although near 40 person sign up to come. Probably, the heavy rain had shaken up some of the people's determination to come for the session. Hope to see them in the next session.

Onwards......B&W will ive on...!!!! Until the next gathering. Adios!

Moments of silence for the Tsunami victims

2004-12-27T13:00:00.000+08:00

Year 2004 has seen many natural calamities. The latest being the strongest earthquake with the epicentre near Aceh, Indonesia and the Tsunami that it induced in the Indian Ocean region. Many lives has been lost in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand & Myanmar.

The interesting was only the Meteorological stations in the Pacific rim (Hawaii etc) that monitors Tsunami & earth movement discover and forewarn the coming of the earthquake & Tsunami. The victim countries were probably not equipped or even know how to handle such clamities. This has left many victims and casualty to the unexpected coming of the Natural killer. I thought more could have been done to minimise loss of properties, resources and of course precious human lives. People die more of ignorance that be killed by the strong forces at work. In a shocking scene over the news, I even saw people gathering at the beach to watch the wave of huge tidal waves washing ashore. They probably do not know the magnitude and dangers that they may not live to retell the scenary, though majestic, is also lethal & deadly as the ebb receded with all in their path.

Allow me to introduce the image of the mappleleaf as a symbol of peace in our normal natural environement. Let's observe a minute of silence for all victims and their families & friends that suffers the bereavement and loss.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2004-12-25T11:30:00.000+08:00

It has been 3 days since I started this weblog and I have been getting very strong encouragement from my peers.

Though it started off as an avenue for me to express my views about B&W photography, I'm getting more positive that this weblog is likely to take off and reach out to more people out there.

BTW, today is Christmas. Though I'm not a Christian, I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR AHEAD!

Cheers, Jeff

Fighters of Freedom

2004-12-24T09:03:00.000+08:00

Another interesting street scene at Malioboro Street, Yogyakarta in Indonesia.

Treasure peace when u have it. It's a pretty common sight in some cities to have demonstration & riots in the street everyday. People live in fear or have got used to such everyday lives. Howver, I notice in the picture that the students were just merely voicing out their unhappiness of the state of affair of the country or their surroundings. It was a "peaceful" demonstration per se. No one got hurt or anything with the riot police just watch at the sideline & prepare to come in if the situation dictates it.

Some of us, photographers there started snapping away as such sights were rare or non existant in S'pore!! To hold a demonstration or riot, U need to get a Public Speaking license from MICA! Talk abt planned demonstration with government's endorsement! Probably better off doing it in Hong Lim Garden! BTW, nothing heard abt the speaker's corner at Hong Lim anymore??? Have people got some fed up with the application process for a license or they're not issuing anymore license?

With the 9/11 lesson, many cities & countries have step up on public security. Sometimes, Higher security does not beget higher enjoyment. To some extent, would u be comfortable with people patrolling the place with sub-machine guns while the whole world is letting their hair down? Many a time, big events all start off from seemingly innocent gathering of people for some celebration.... Well during the 10 day war, Israel went to war from a seemingly harmless war exercise. Think hard....public security vs personal enjoyment !

Sun breaking through the fog

2004-12-23T11:11:00.000+08:00

How often have u woken up so early to see the morning sun?

Believe me, the scenary must have been different from all the smoke & lights that we're all so accustomed to in the city buzz.

Was trying to show how the rays of the morning sun, not the strong heat, but warmth of the golden ball, breaking through the coldness of the morning mist. The mist further enhanced the surrealism of the rays. It was the pleasant feeling of the morning chill that is slowly warmed up by the intensifying sun's warmth. Air was extra fresh that day & vaguely tinted with scents of the rural environment, oof grass & of all things natural, minus the pollutants.

Sadly, even myself included, we hardly get up to appreciate what nature has been able to give. The gift of all things natural & free of charge. Much time is spent in slumber and the best times of the the day wasted past.

ehmmmm. New Year resolution. Must get up early....Early bird gets the worm!!

Poverty = Peace?

2004-12-22T13:31:00.000+08:00

With much luck, some of my trip brings me to some very remote part of overseas countries. These are places where u hardly see any tourists at all. They show a more real picture of the everyday life of the people there. somethinbg that they do everyday and of course not for the sake of chasing after the tourists' money.

To many others, the idea of stepping onto foreign region without an attached bathroom is a big NO NO! But I thought theat allow us to reflect on how life has been merciful on us.

The bridge in the picture is in Pundong, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The villagers relied on the bamboo bridge in the background to get to the mainland over the river. Every year, for 3 times when the flood comes, the bridge is washed away as well. This incident was reported in one of the National Geographic's program and immediately gain international attention. Latest update was a concrete bridge is in the progress of building and the Pundong Bamboo bridge is soon becoming thing of the past.

Have the international attention took away the tranquility and peace of the small remote village? People may be poor there but that is part of their lifestyle. Giving assistance connotate the interference of their life from a 3rd part intervention. But has anyone ask if the idea is welcomed by the people there? Of course this humanitarian act is exuberantly publicised elsewhere in the world. Things are just not going to be the same again, at least in the future.....for good or for worse, u decide.....

Alamak....the D@mn HDD is abt to Crash!!!!

2004-12-21T23:49:00.000+08:00

You wouldn't believe it.
Murphy's Law just goota have to strike at the most inappropriate time!!!

Have been having problems with the Harddisk drive in the PC. Damn...It's giving me more headache tonight when I'm trying to rush for the assignment completion. Too much data stored on the HDD & no enuff back up. Expensive lesson to learn!!!! Will get it fix by midnight...

It just have to be tonight right when I happily want to post some good shot on the blog!

Watch out! Will start posting some of my B&W images tomorrow onwards.

The first Sound of Light.....

2004-12-21T13:55:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Sound of Light....

This is the inaugural post in Sound of Light. This title was conceived when I talked to one of my fren who's blind from birth. She has never seen the sun rise or set before. But she once told me that she has "hear" the sound of the light. She claimed if u close yr eyes and concentrate, u could hear the streams of light falling through the windows on the floor.

She has taught me to feel from my heart.

This post marks the first post of my sharing of my inner thots to all of u.