Tag: 2013

Fair people

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L1007325Bendy Bendini from the Cambridge Community Circus

Spent the day up in Cambridge at the Norfolk Street Community Street Party organised by a friend. These are a couple of portraits I did when I encountered some interesting people.

EXPOSURE+2 Photography Project Mentoring Programme

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KLPA is announcing a second round of EXPOSURE+ Photography Mentoring Programme following the recent conclusion of the pilot session, in which our participants proudly displayed their final projects at a public exhibition at Galeri PETRONAS in conjunction with the KLPA13 Winners and Finalists exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.   (May 23rd to June 23rd, 2013)

The EXPOSURE+2 programme is a time-limited, 3-month long program where our mentors will assist and guide you in identifying stories, ideas or concepts that you can execute into a photography project, through to editing, sequencing and ultimately, creating a visually flowing and personally satisfying photo-book.

More below :

What is the Mentoring Program?

This is a 3-month ‘one-to-one’ photography mentoring program which begins from mid July – September, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur. The program aims to assist photographers on

  • How to develop a strong and visually challenging photography project from concept to presentation
  • How to develop, identify and execute a cohesive body of work based on a concept
  • How to self-edit, sequence and present your own project images
  • How to put together a portfolio for effective presentation


How will this be accomplished?

Through several regular one-to-one constructive critique review sessions with our facilitators –

Eiffel Chong – contemporary photographer/lecturer
Erna Dyanty –  photography researcher/curator
Steven V-L Lee – freelance photographer (* online interaction only)

Suitability?

This program is open to novice, serious hobbyists and professional photographers who are seeking to develop their skills in producing personal photography projects, and may benefit from guided mentoring through greater focus in developing concepts from ideas, seeing it to fruition in a personal photobook. You will be required to be dedicated and fully resigned to completing this program within the time allocated.

How do I apply?

Interested photographers will have to send in a brief project proposal with a short statement why you wish to participate in this program.  The projects proposed can be based on documentary or fine art, but may only be general ideas at this stage. Describe briefly your intent on realising this project, ie. why you think it is a worthwhile project.  There will be a limited number of participants.

Photographers will need to have basic photography skills and camera techniques as this is not a technical workshop. Facilitators will not specifically teach image editing or other technical photography skills.

Important Dates

Application  closes 14 July, 2013 and will be on ‘first come’ basis. There will be limited entries. 

Participants will be notified of their mentor based on the relevancy of their project, by 20th July, 2013.

We aim to present a completed photo-book, either jointly or individually  and participate at the 2nd IPA Photo-Book Festival happening 19/20 October!

Send in your details as follow, to erna@klphotoawards.com or +60 12 231 0961 or info@explorenation.net

Name
Email contact
Telephone contact
Website (if any)
Project statement (please state overall ideas and concept, interests )

Contact info

Steven Lee      info@explorenation.net
Erna Dyanty  erna@klphotoawards.com +60 12 231 0961

Eiffel Chong  eiffelchong@gmail.com

Is this a paid workshop and what is included?

Program Fee –  RM750, which includes

  • Regular one-to-one mentoring over three month through direct contact with facilitators. There will be a meet-up session every fortnight to assess progress and discuss your project.
  • A brief tutorial on how to put together a portfolio photobook.
  • You will also join the Alumni of explorenation.net and participate in their future events.
  • Join us on Facebook for updates or just to say Hi!


About our Mentors 

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Eiffel Chong

Eiffel Chong graduated with an MA in International Contemporary Art and Design Practice from the University of East London. He is currently a photography lecturer at an art institution in Malaysia. Chong has been featured in numerous exhibitions in Malaysia and around the world. Among the exhibitions are: Silent Auction at London College of Communication, London, 2008; A New Wave of Responsive Images at Nikon Ginza Gallery, Tokyo, 2009; and CUT2010: Parallel Universe, which toured Southeast Asia, showing at Valentine Willie Fine Art Kuala Lumpur & Singapore, Sangkring Art Space, Jogjakarta and Manila Contemporary, Philippines. Chong has participated in the Singapore International Photography Festival 2008, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore.
http://www.eiffelchong.com

Erna Dyanty

Erna Dyanty graduated with an MA in Arts Management from UKM. She is a self taught photographer and is a practicing contemporary art photography.  She was nominated to participate in the Asian Europe Foundation Emerging Photographers Forum in 2009. Her works have been featured in CUT 2008: A Survey of New Photography in South East Asia, Kuala Lumpur,  A New Wave of Responsive Images at Nikon Ginza Gallery, Tokyo, 2009; Theerta International Women Photography Exhibition, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2011 and DATUM KL in 2011.

Erna has also worked creatively to produce photographic works for Frangipani Bar & Restaurant, Alexis Bistro, Concorde Hotel and Dwell Asia Magazine. She has also curated a number of photography exhibitions in Kuala Lumpur, Vision & Sound: a survey of underground music photographers, MAP KL, 2010, ROCK KAKA, at Project Room VWFA 2009, Neither East nor West: Collections from the Lafayette Studio of Photography London, Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2007 and The Formation of A Nation: A Photographic Flashback, Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, 2012.

Steven V-L Lee

Steven Lee began his photographic career as a documentary and travel photographer in the late 90′s when began writing travel related articles for magazines and journals. In 2000, he published his first coffee-table book titled Outside Looking In : Kuala Lumpur, which received the Asian Prize at Photo City Sagamihara Festival of the Image, Japan in 2007. Part of the collection is held with the City of Sagamihara National Photographic Archives. His commercial portraiture and fashion work has graced the covers of License! Europe, Country Club UK and Masterpiece and Asiana magazines. In 2008, Steven was involved in portfolio reviews at Cultivate, a Rhubarb-Rhubarb initiative for graduates in Photography, to prepare and guide them in portfolio preparation and exhibitions.

Steven is the founder and project director of the KL INTERNATIONAL PHOTOAWARDS, an annual international portrait photography competition centred in Malaysia, focussing on the best in contemporary portrait photography since 2009, and is considered of the the Top50 contests in the world. Steven also blogs at explorenation.net and has run workshops at Lim Kok Wing University London, in Kuala Lumpur as well as travel tours, with photographer Andy Craggs, as Explorenation World Photography Workshops.
http://www.stevenleephotography.com


EXPOSURE+ is explorenation’s new photography program which is formulated to encourage members to get involve and participate in regular meet ups, exhibitions, present new work, network with other photographers and enthusiasts, and have fun! Our first event was a SlideShare evening on Tuesday 24th July at the French Art Gallery in London. Since then we have had a total of three SlideShare evenings in 2012.

EXPOSURE+ now has a Malaysian chapter!  February 2013, we ran a 3-month pilot Photography Project Mentoring Program.

‘Photography for All’
explorenation.net runs travel photography, publishing, exhibition, photography education and workshops. Started by Steven V-L Lee, an award winning UK based freelance photographer and Andy Craggs in 2008, explorenation.net is dedicated to the personal advancement of photographic objectives for all enthusiasts. We believe in the universal language of the ‘photograph’ and that photography should be accessible to everyone, and continue to break the elitism that plagues so many aspects of contemporary practice. explorenation.net also project manages the annual KL International Photoawards for contemporary portraiture.

Please email us if you are interested in joining our workshops and become Alumni.
http://www.explorenation.net

 

Muzium Negara : Sticks, stones and mannequins

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It’s been a good 20 years at least, that I paid a visit to KL’s National Museum, Muzium Negara. When I was growing up as a teen, we used to drive along Jalan Bangsar to KL and the imposing and still amazing iconic design of the Muzium always impressed me. All I recall was this great big red tiled roof structure that is practically half the height of this building, very distinctive. Just like the major iconic KL structures designed and built in the 40′ to 60’s, like our National Mosque, RTM studio and Parliament House; the Muzium Negara still remains a strong contender for the top public building in my books. (see here ) I was always amazed by the large murals which flanked both sides of the frontage.

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This must still be the cheapest public museum to visit in SE Asia, (apart from the free ones) at RM2.00 a pop for nationals. I was actually surprised by the quality of the displays, the presentation booths, AV quality and interactive highlights. I had been expecting a dusty, broken down rickety old museum with unconvincing displays, but everywhere I looked, I saw professionally captioned artifacts, clear and concise explanations and although rather dimly lit, the display cabinets housing amazing pre-history stone instruments and items are well presented. Only some of the mannequins used to highlight our European-dominated past was a bit suspect. The hair. No, Portuguese sailors did not wear their hair like Johnny Depp.

Overall, although the galleries were small, the historical content was educational, and illuminating of Malaysia’s varied past, both in it’s early history and also more modern Colonial times. What is most striking for me is the cultural impact of Hindu and Buddhist influence on this region for centuries before as can be witnessed by the numerous artifacts from these early cultures found in the peninsula.

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“This statue of Avalokitesvara was found in a tin mine belonging to Anglo Oriental, at Bidor in Perak in 1936. It is made of bronze and has eight arms of which, however, one is broken. It is dated sometime between the 7th and the 12th centuries AD, when the culture of the region was Hindu-Buddhist. The statue weighs 63 kilograms and stands 93cm high. This artefact is declared as Tangible Heritage Object under the National Heritage List 2009.” ~ Muzium Negara

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An early hand scripted Holy Quran on display

Overall, I was suitably impressed with the current state of the museum, although I was looking out for a more comprehensive display of insects and beasts, as well, and I do encourage visitors and citizens alike to make a visit, even if to experience the architecture of this iconic 60s building.  I did chuckle a bit to see a Proton Saga in the external displays though.