The sixth edition of the Singapore International Photography Festival is about to be its biggest run — this year, organizers are putting their own spin on the theme Like You, Me, Everybody Else with 11 exhibitions and 50 events, including workshops, seminars, film screenings, and parties. All these happenings will be spread across venues like Deck, Esplanade Tunnel, Gillman Barracks, Japan Creative Centre, National Design Centre, National Library Plaza, and The Arts House.
For $50, visitors will get access to artist and curator talks, guided tours, presentations, and selected exhibitions, with discounts off admission rates to fringe activities, festival merch, and more.
So gather around, photography enthusiasts, and dive into the nuances of human experiences captured by images that have been selected for their “universal narrative appeal.” Like those in Between Love and Death: Diary of Nobuyoshi Araki, which feature a range of the Japanese photographer’s earliest and latest works that focus on his relationship with his wife, making it his largest exhibition in Singapore.
Besides international creatives, the indie fest will spotlight 19 local artists — its highest number so far — with a focus on photographer Nguan, whose dreamy shots of our garden city will be shown at a solo exhibition in Gillman Barracks.
Plus, three Singapore photographers (Caleb Ming, Kevin Fee, and Ernest Wu) who spent a two-month residency programme in Yunnan, China, last year will present a look at the cultures and traditions of Naxi ethnic minorities through their lenses at The Arts House.
Also look out for a new category in the Open Call program — the new Photobook Showcase will be set up at the National Design Centre, with 82 items curated by an international panel, and travel to other cities in Asia after its debut here.
Other festival highlights include Mark Neville’s Child’s Play & Other Stories, social documentary projects on post-industrial identity in working class communities; Jiang Jian’s Archives on Orphans, where the Chinese artist charts the journey of 400 individuals by visiting them once every five years for a decade; and Still by Laura Letinsky, a showing of still life photography that reframes neglected elements of daily life in elegant ways.
But if you just want to admire a showcase of photos, swing by the National Library Plaza for a free exhibition called In Other Image, When Words Fail to browse through over 300 pictures by artists from all over the globe, portraying everything from human connections and the female identity to portraits of World War II soldiers and the void decks of Singapore.
FIND IT:
Singapore International Photography Festival 2018 is on from Sept 6-Dec 9 at various locations.
$50/per pass; various prices for different events.
