Plain White Minimalist

Who would’ve thought that taking a family photo would be easy? Trust me, it isn’t. Out of about 10-20 photos, only one or two will make the cut. Well at least to my standards. Mind you, photos taken (it varies in the hundreds) will go through my very own rigid process of photo-culling.

The past 24 hours have been quite a marathon for my wife and I. Bringing a baby along and everywhere has taken quite a toll on us. It may be tiring but its worth it. We planned and booked a stay-cation at Lloyd’s Inn on the eve of Christmas. I tell you it’s one of my favourite boutique hotel so far. The design and architecture of the hotel echoes minimalism. Its white everywhere! Plus hints of wood and greens, plants what have you blended together to create a seamless sense of zen. It’s even got a bathtub out in the open.

Yup, actual living space and bathing space is divided by a huge glass panel. It’s got that SOHO feel. There’s a second floor to it, but there’s a only a desk or a workstation for workaholics. I personally used that space to do my light editing work. And yes, I brought my little family out to National Gallery to visit the most talked exhibition in town, Minimalism – SPACE. LIGHT OBJECT. Before i go on, here are some photos taken at Lloyds.

 

 

See what i mean. The place has a tremendous taste all things minimal. Lloyds Inn is located at 2 LLOYD ROAD, SINGAPORE 239091. You can call them at +65 6737 7309. If you are tech-savvy, just book a room online like we did. The hotel deserves a thumbs up from me.

Interested? Book a room here!

Back to our topic of minimalism, National Gallery Singapore as well as Artscience Musuem are running an exhibition on that subject matter. I am a fan of simplicity. If you noticed, my website follows that mantra. I don’t like to over-complicate on design.

Initially we decided to visit both musuems to fully immerse ourselves. However, in the interest of time and our growling stomachs, we decided to just head to National Gallery. Its by far my favourite musuem and it has showcased prominent exhibitions such as the likes of Yayoi Kusama.

Why did we choose NGS over Artscience? What caught my eye were the various strong harsh colors in the NGS. I figured it would be far more interesting to visit NGS’s exhibition. I was intrigued by “Mega Death”, a room lit up by hundreds of single digits. All of them emit a blue light. So you can imagine what this space would be like. Its a visual feast for the eyes. I was intrigued by another installation aptly named “Room for one colour”. It did lived up to its name well. The whole room floods your iris with an orange-yellow hue. I had so much fun composing pictures with my wife and daughter in frame. It makes for interesting and unique photos. Planning to head down? Details are located below the gallery.

 

 

Minamlism: Space. Light. Object

Opens daily from 16 NOV 18 – 14 APR 2019.

The gallery opens at 10am-7pm on Saturdays till Thursday and 10am-9pm on Sundays.

Purchase your tickets here

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A State of Infinite Obsession

If you have an Instagram account, chances are you’d come across photos of your friends in a room full of colorful polka-dots. You might be wondering where you can get a piece of the action. Perhaps you have some ideas and concepts in mind about what kind of photos you wanna take, or maybe you just want to breathe in and admire the art that is Yayoi Kusama.

Enter “Life is in the heart of a rainbow”. Yayoi Kusama’s collection of her artistic work, it boasts exhibits such as the “infinity mirror room” and intricate dots, phallic and pumpkin motifs.

Be sure to head down to Singapore’s National Gallery from 9 Jun –  3 Sept 17 to catch her work. For those who want to snap some pictures over there, here are some tips from me.

1. Go on a weekday, in the morning to avoid large crowds.
2. If you have a DSLR or an interchangeable lens camera, be sure to get a prime, telephoto and a wide angle lens. The wide angle lens is especially crucial when it comes to taking photos in a corner.
3. Play around with perspective, there are many ways you can creatively take photos over there. Do not limit yourself to taking against a wall. Move around with your subject to get creative angles. Make use of high, low angles and bokeh. Bokeh does a very good job in singling out your subject amidst the endless polka-dots.
4. Bring spare batteries. My first battery died out quickly. There were so many opportunities to take photos there. But i chose the best when it comes to post-processing.
5. The lighting conditions there is not that great or friendly to your camera. After all, it is an indoor exhibit. I bumped up the ISO but not too much. I opened my len’s aperture as wide as it can go and played around with shutter speed to get enough light in. By doing so, i had to ask my wife to stand still while i clicked the shutter to avoid any blurry motion.
6. Lastly, go get the tickets online. You can avoid long queues if you do this. You can book it here. https://www.nationalgallery.sg/visit/admissions

Here are the some of the shots taken at the exhibit. My wife is the subject/model for the shoot.