A solo exhibition and book launch by Darren Soh

Chapel Gallery, Objectifs
23 Aug to 30 Sept 2018 
Tues to Sat, 12pm to 7pm / Sun 12pm to 4pm
Free admission

Opening Reception: Tues 21 Aug, 7pm 
Artist Talk: Tues 4 Sept, 7.30pm to 9pm 
Points of View: Architecture Photography Seminar by Darren Soh: Sat 8 Sept, 1pm to 4pm 

Read our recap of Darren Soh’s artist talk and seminar here: Points of View: Darren Soh on Architecture Photography in Singapore 

What of our heritage, memories and connections do we lose as much of Singapore’s architecture from the early independence years is now getting demolished and redeveloped? Darren Soh has spent more than a decade documenting such spaces, and presents images — most of which will be shown for the first time — of eight iconic sites from this period in this solo exhibition.

The sites are: Pearl Bank Apartments, People’s Park Complex, Golden Mile Complex, Golden Mile Tower, Bedok and Buona Vista Swimming Complexes, Queenstown Cinema, Tanglin Halt Estate and Rochor Centre.

A monograph of the same title accompanies the exhibition and can be purchased at Objectifs or here.  the exhibition. The book contains images from the show, as well as additional photos of the eight sites and of HDB estates that were constructed in the 1960s – 1970s. It includes essays by writer Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, architectural historian Yeo Kang Shua, and Darren Soh, and is designed by local design studio Practice Theory. 

About Darren Soh:
Darren Soh’s photographic practice explores architecture, urban landscape and space. An established photographer who is most recognised for his documentation of vernacular architecture, Darren has been placed in several international photography awards over the years, including the Commonwealth Photographic Awards, the Prix de la Photographie, Paris, the International Photography Awards, PDN and ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu. His works have been shown widely, including solo exhibitions at The Esplanade and Objectifs (Singapore Art Week 2015), and internationally at photography festivals like Noorderlicht (The Netherlands) and Obscura (Penang). He has published several monographs including While You Were Sleeping (2004), For My Son (2015) and In the Still of the Night (2016).

Darren was one of the co-founders of Platform.sg, an initiative to showcase photography of Singapore or by Singaporean photographers. As champions of local photography, Platform.sg has gone on to support and publish 22 Singapore photography books and most recently, an exhibition of 34 Singaporean photographers in Istanbul (Apr-May 2018). He continues to advocate for photography as an art form, and contributes actively to the community through frequent public talks and ground up projects that focus on documenting Singapore.

Press:
INDESIGNLIVE.SG: Before It All Goes: Architecture from Singapore’s Early Independence Years
CNA Lifestyle: “I’m afraid one day it’s going to go’: Saving Singapore’s old buildings one photograph at a time
The Business Times: The Heritage Protectors
Buro 24/7 Singapore: Has Singapore’s built heritage been forsaken for profits?
Coconuts: WATCH: The people and the stories behind Singapore’s soon-to-be demolished landmarks
Home & Decor: For architectural photographer Darren Soh, his shots of old buildings is his way of preserving their memory
The A List: Old buildings in a new light
The New Paper: Photographs to remember old buildings and locations
Mothership: Photographer who grew up in Pearl Bank Apartments speaks in video about coming to terms with building’s impending demolition
MustShareNews.com: Nostalgic Video of Old Singapore Buildings Will Give You the Feels

This exhibition is supported by AVS Printing Pte Ltd, Cathay Photo Store (Pte) Ltd, NYAA Young Photographers’ Network and Sony Electronics (Singapore) Pte Ltd.