SALAD by Loh Xiang Yun

SALAD is a photographer’s study of the textures found in parks. It is a collection of 200 photographs taken in 24 parks across five countries. Close-ups, which are cropped as squares, the photographs recall the grids commonly used to plan parks. Collected over a span of five years, between 2013 and 2017, the collection emulates a scientific collection. Appropriating scientific fieldwork methods of collecting, ordering and identification, the collection of photographs systematically documents different natural spaces. Yet, in spite of the notations of each photograph, the photographs are decontextualised and open to interpretation—leaving the viewer to navigate, make connections and respond to the photographer’s attempt to make sense of our relationship to nature.

This book was selected as one of the finalists for the Singapore International Photography Festival 2018 Photobook Open Call.

About Loh Xiang Yun

Born in 1988, Loh Xiang Yun is an artist who lives and works in Singapore. Her work has been exhibited regionally at Yeo Workshop in Singapore, Hsinchu Art Museum in Taiwan, Dali International Photography Exhibition in China and Toyko Art Book Fair in Japan, among other spaces and exhibitions.

Her work interrogates how people relate to nature. Using her observations made through drawing, painting and photography, she examines the everyday to study how nature is managed and engineered in our cities. Through durational projects that map and document our natural surroundings, she charts the changing ways we see and define nature.