Snap Shots

Greetings Readers! Check out this local Lomography FB Fan Page - http://www.facebook.com/BruneiLomo

For those new to lomography, according to Lomography.com...

It began with a fateful encounter in the early 1990s, when a group of students in Vienna, Austria, stumbled upon the Lomo Kompakt Automat – a small, enigmatic Russian camera. Mindlessly taking shots from the hip, and sometimes looking through the viewfinder, they were astounded with the mindblowing photos that it produced – the colours were vibrant, with deep saturation and vignettes that framed the shot – it was nothing like they had seen before! Upon returning home, friends wanted their own Lomo LC-A, igniting a new style of artistic experimental photography that we now know as Lomography!

They add that there are 10 rules that define ‘lomography’:

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.
2. Use it any time – day and night.
3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.
4. Try to shoot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.
6. Don’t think.
7. Be fast.
8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.
9. Afterwards either.
10. Don’t worry about any rules!

Here are some ideas on how to get started (I am paraphrasing here):
1. Pick a camera
2. Choose your film
3. Experiment
4. Meet and connect with fellow lomographers

Here are some photographs from the BruneiLomo page. Check them out and Like them for more.

Greetings Readers! Check out this photograph by a Bruneian photographer in the US. Click on this link and hit 'like' to help him win the People's Choice Awards!

"Moving" by Joel Ang

What do you do?

I am currently developing a documentary on domestic workers in Brunei with Dr. Kathrina Daud and have just finished recording a yet to be aired youth orientated talk show for RTB as a co-host. I also volunteer for SEEDS (Students' Extracurricular and Educational Dramatic Society) and was a co-founder of B:READ (Bruneians Read).

Describe yourself.

Cynic.   

Tell us about the Visiting the Mall project.

The "Visiting The Mall" project was developed for The Creative Industries Festival. I was approached by Low Kok Wai a member of the Creative Industries Research Cluster (CIRC) to exhibit during the festival, and was was provided a space to exhibit my work. The project emerged from observations of how people walked through The Mall, and I wondered where people were heading to. I had already produced a body of work documenting the space, such as The Mall Escalator and another being a video called The Mall, Gadong.

These works didn't require direct interaction with those that visited The Mall and were far more abstract in style. While the previous body of work would fit within a traditional art gallery space, given the huste and bustle that is usually found around the entrances to the ground floor, it required a far more interactive approach that would make people stop and engage with the work.

Photographs from the Creative Industries Festival at The Mall, Gadong

(Note: Here are some of the photographs from Faiq's "Visiting The Mall" project. The folks were asked why they were at The Mall on that particular day.)

Abby & Dad - “Visiting”

Farah Muhammad - “Family Outing :D”

The Mall, Gadong

The Mall, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam, 2011 from Faiq Airudin on Vimeo.

Portraiture in Brunei is usually confined to studio spaces, while location shooting is practised by fashion photographers and street photography is supposed to be candid and informal. The project is an attempt to combine these styles of photography, taking portraiture into private spaces which required asking the names of who you photograph and strike up a conversation.

The project is also an attempt to create a modern portrait of Brunei; of what people wear and what kinds of things people do in The Mall. The photographs in the project aren't so much about technique, but more about the people in the photographs, hence the social media aspect and the assistance of volunteers. The volunteers for the festival helped by using their own cameras, initiating the conversation and photographing people on their own terms.

How have the public responded to being part of this 'live' project?

The responses of families that were photographed were especially endearing, some running over to the photo in excitement, while others walk over tentatively completely surprised their photograph is actually displayed. Friends of those displayed in the booth usually go directly to the photograph in amusement, and have a discussion among themselves. Others pass the booth hoping to spot a person they might recognise and then wonder why people in a photograph seem familiar and then walk away.

Attending the booth had the advantage of knowing what people think of the work and responding directly, that’s if they wanted to share their thoughts with me of course! Most of the questions fall either into those that wonder about photographic technique or questioning if the work is art or something else completely different.

Monica Law & Ann Goh - “Shopping”

Amirah M. Villamin & Martina Joy A. Abgayani - “to watch a movie with my friend”

Greetings Readers! I stumbled upon the following YouTube by fellow tweeter @Ninactor. The "Nina Project" sets out to raise awareness against teenange bullying and suicide. The YouTube description reads "we gathered some bully words that made people feel insecure about themselves" and one hundred "Aims in Life for this project...Hopefully it'll inspire you :)" Check them out on Facebook as well.