A Solo Exhibition by Lui Hock Seng

Lower Gallery, Objectifs
8 Feb to 11 Mar 2018
Tues to Sat, 12pm to 7pm / Sun, 12pm to 4pm
Admission is free

:: Opening Reception: 10 Feb, Sat, 230pm to 330pm 
:: Artist Talk: 10 Feb, Sat, 330pm to 430pm (View video here)
:: Street Photography Workshops w/ Deanna Ng: Sat 10 Mar 4-7pm

:: Guided school tours: Please contact us at info@objectifs.com.sg if you wish to arrange for a free curator tour for your students. 

Order ‘Passing Time’, a photography book featuring some 80 images by Mr Lui Hock Seng here.
If you would like to buy prints from the exhibition, please email us at info@objectifs.com.sg for the catalogue.

Passing Time presents a slice of history through black and white photographs of Singapore from the 1960s to 1970s, captured by 81-year old self-taught photographer Lui Hock Seng.

Mr Lui’s interest in photography started in the 1950s. A car mechanic by profession and a photographer by vocation, Mr Lui was an avid participant in photography excursions organised by photo clubs and his friends. He would even take photos while cycling to work, shooting life by the Merdeka Bridge.

Like many photographers of that period, his subjects of interest ranged widely from streetscapes, to portraits, from architecture to industry. The images are exemplary of pictorial photography, the dominant photography art practice at the time, and provide insight into the beginnings of modern-day Singapore. In its emphasis on composition, light, technical skill and individual expression, pictorial photography saw many photographers exercise extensive control over the image-making process, from capturing the subject to manipulating the outcome in the darkroom.

Although Mr Lui has not pursued photography professionally, he has taken part in several photo competitions over the years, winning awards and was even accepted as an Associate of The Royal Photographic Society (ARPS) of Great Britain (1963). Most recently, he won a 3rd prize (Colour) at the Kampong Glam Community Club (2016).

He continues to take photographs to this day. 

About Lui Hock Seng

Mr Lui Hock Seng, 81 years old has been taking photographs of Singapore since the 1950s. He is a self- taught photographer who has worked as a part time event photographer for weddings, dinners and funerals in the 60s. He was a member of the now defunct South-east Asia Photographic Society and has won several photography awards in the past. He is currently working as an office cleaner.

View Mr Lui’s artist talk here:

 

For more on Mr Lui’s photography journey, read on here
BBC: I’ve lost the city I used to shoot
The Straits Times: 80-year-old photographer holds first solo exhibition
Arts Equator: Lui Hock Seng: The Past and Passing
Lianhe Zaobao: 清洁工摄影师雷福胜 按下快门风雨歇
The Business Times: An islander’s vision
The Straits Times: Office cleaner with a passion for photography
Channel NewsAsia: An 80-year-old amateur photographer’s images of old Singapore