About

About TAN LIP SENG

Tan Lip Seng F.R.P.S., E.F.I.A.P., F.P.S.A., M.P.S.A.,HON.F.PSS., HON,F,SCC.,
HON.OPC.BSC., HON.PFR., EP.PSM., HON.F.SEAPS., HON.F.PCKBC., HON.F.NPAS., HON.F.PSG.,
HON.E.HKCC., HON.E.CPA., HON.OG.PH., HON.O.C., MH.F.C.FOIX, A.C.F.C., MHFCBA., HMFCA.,
A.C.C.P., HON.F.SCPS., SE 35mmPS., ASIIPC., A.B.I.P.P., HON.F.FCM.,HONPESGSPC., PSA 2nd DIAMOND GALAXY,
SINGAPORE CULTURAL MEDALLION AWARD.

Tan Lip Seng FRPS., FPSA., MPSA, EFIAP., ABIPP., born in Singapore in 1942 and took up photography as a hobby when he was only twelve years old.

AWARDS FROM INTERNATIONAL SALONS

  • From 1962 to 1997, his colour transparencies gained a total of 6005 acceptances in 2439 international salons.
  • During this period, he won 1079 awards in international salons including 34 PSA Gold Medals for the “Best Slide Of The Show”, 8 FIAP Gold Medal and 241 other Gold Medals.
  • He is ranked as one of the world’s top ten pictorial colour slides exhibitors and has held this position for 20 successive years (1969 to 1988).

MEMBER OF PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

  • He has been a member of the Photographic Society of America since 1967.
  • He was awarded Five Star Exhibitor of the PSA Colour Slide Division in 1970.
  • In 1985, he obtained his Diamond Galaxy Exhibitor rating and became the 1st person in Asia to obtain this rating.
  • He was awarded APSA in 1994.
  • In 1996, he obtained his 2nd Diamond Galaxy Exhibitor rating and became the 5th person in the world to obtain such a rating.
  • In March 1997, he has awarded EPSA (Excellence member of the Photographic Society of America) and became the 1st person in Asia to obtain this honour.
  • He has been appointed as the International Representative in Singapore for the Photographic Society of America since 1997
  • In 1998, he was awarded the “Best Country Representative of the Year”.
  • At the 1998 PSA Orlando Convention, he presented his topics on “Creative Montage with Color Transparencies” as well as the “PSA Best of Singapore Slide Collection”.
  • At the 1999 PSA Toronto Conference, he was honoured as a Fellow of the Photographic Society of America (FPSA), the first Singaporean to receive this honour.
  • At the 2011 PSA Colorado Springs Conference, he was honoured as a Master of the Photographic Society of America (MPSA).

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN

  • He has been a member of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain since 1964.
  • He gained the distinction of ARPS in Black And White (Pictorial category) in the same year.
  • In 1970, he had the distinction of being the first person in Singapore to be awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (FRPS) for his achievements with Pictorial Colour transparencies.
  • He has been appointed as the Overseas Service Representative of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (1986-2010).
  • He was invited to present a series of lectures to the Royal Photographic Society’s Members of North Western Region in December 1993.
  • He delivered a series of lectures to the members of the Royal Photographic Society’s North East Region, Cumbria Region and the Northwest Region in September 1996.
  • In 1998, he was awarded the Fenton Medal by the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and enrolled as an Honorary Life Member (the first ever Chinese recipient for this award) for his distinguished service to the Society .

FIAP AWARD

  • He obtained his EFIAP in 1972.

JUDGING AND CONFERENCE

  • Over the years, he has attended more than 100 international photographic events as an exhibitor, speaker and adjudicator.
  • He was invited as a guest speaker of the Photographic Society of Australia Convention in Adelaide (1986).
  • He represented Singapore to attend the 5th Symposium on ASEAN Travelling Exhibition of Painting, Photography and Children’s Art, Jakarta, Indonesia (1988).
  • He was invited to judge the 21st Paisley International Salon, Scotland, in 1993.
    In the same year, he was also invited to lecture to various photo societies at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Paisley, Kilmarnoch, Dundee and Glasgow in Scotland.
  • He judged the 1996 Northern Counties International Salon in the United Kingdom.

NATIONAL ARTS SERVICES AND AWARD

  • In 1985, the Ministry of Community Development of Singapore awarded him the Singapore Cultural Medallion (Singapore highest award in Arts) in recognition of his artistic talent and creativity and for his commendable achievement in photography.
  • From 1986 to 1998, he served as a member of the panel of the Photographic Art Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Community Development of Singapore, Ministry of Information And The Arts and the Singapore National Arts Council.
  • From 1998 to 2008, he served as an Arts Advisor of the Singapore National Arts Council.

    • He has served as a member of:

    • The Advisory Panel on Visual Arts Exhibitions, Ministry of Information And The Arts (1994).
    • Theatre/Annual Grants Assessment Panel, NAC (FY1997 to FY1999).
    • Planning and Organising Committee of Singapore Art, NAC (1995, 1997, 1999).
    • Renaissance City Report, Ministry of Information And The Arts (2000).

    Other National Art Services and Achievements:

    • Chairman of Photography Specialist Panel for Cultural Medallion And Young Artist Award, NAC (1998, 1999, 2003, 2004).
    • Vice-Chairman of Photography Specialist Panel for Cultural Medallion And Young Artist Award, NAC (2002).
    • NAC External Assessor For Visual Arts (2000 to 2002).
    • In July 2003, he was featured in the “Self-Portrait II” of the Arts Central Channel (Media Crop, National Television Channel) on his life and achievement as a photographer.
  • In July 2005, he has been named by Ngee Ann Cultural Centre as “Photographer of the Year”.
  • Awarded 2007 National Arts Council Cultural Medallion Grant
  • Interview by National Archives of Singapore for “Oral History” (Photography), 2010

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

  • A number of his colour slides had been included in the PSA Permanent Collection (1969, 1993) and in the PSA’s Tops in Photography (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998.)
  • 30 Colour Prints for International Kameraklub Bilderbank Collections, Camera Club Linz, Austria (1996)
  • Invited to contribute twelve slides to The Grace Lock Memorial APS Permanent Collection of Slides (Australia, 2001)
  • Permanent Collection of the Ngee Ann Cultural Centre (20 colour prints, Singapore 2005)
  • Permanent Collection of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board, (2008)

PROJECTS INVOLVED IN LAST FEW YEARS

  • Singapore Today; Editorial Committee (1997)
  • Shanghai In The Eyes of World’s Top Photographers (1999)
  • World Photographers Focusing On Beijing (a project for 2008 Olympic application) (2000)
  • “Humanist Photography” (Month of Photography,Singapore 2002)
  • “International Exchange of Photographs Exhibition, Kyoto, on Unesco World Heritage Sites” (May,2003)
  • “10th Tribute to Colour” Netherlands (by invitation, 2004)
  • “To Singapore with Love” (Member of the Panel of Judges, 2005)
  • Judging the “Salonfoto Indonesia XXVI”, August 2005
  • Chairman of the Judging Panel of 13th International Exhibition of Photography, 2005, Sri Lanka, Oct. 2005
  • Romania Exhibition (Invitation Exhibition with Eng Loy) at the Hall of Art School in Tirgu Mures, Romania, Nov. 2005
  • Invited guest of “The PSHK International Salon 60th Anniversary Celebration” Dec. 2005
  • Judging the Borobudur Photographic Competition, Indonesia, 2006
  • “My Landscape Images”, a Jakarta Photo Club, Indonesia, invited presentation. ( Aug. 2007)
  • Singapore Art Show, Singapore Art Museum, 2007, (invited exhibitor)
  • “Digital Images and Me”,International Photographic Exhibition & Seminar. Kaohsiung, Taiwan (invited speaker & exhibitor), Oct. 2007
  • “The Light Of Indonesia”, Pameran Fotografi Indonesia, Jakarta Photo Club, (Invited exhibitor), Nov. 2007
  • “Travelling With Digital Imaging”, Indonesia Embassy in Singapore (invited speaker), Nov. 2007
  • “Beautiful Attractions In Indonesia” Garuda Indonesia International Competition 2008, Focus 2008 Photo Fair, (invited speaker), Jakarta, Indonesia,
  • Judge the Garuda Indonesia International Photo Competition 2008, (August), Jakarta, Indonesia,
  • Golden Jubilee of the Photographic Society of Macau Invitation Exhibition, Macau (Oct. 2008)
  • “Bromo Land of Fire God” Exhibition at Java Banana Bromo Lodge (Nov 2008 to Feb 2009), Indonesia,(invited exhibitor)
  • “My Concept of Culture and Tourism In Photography” invited speaker and exhibitor at the INDONESIA PHOTOWEEK II Seminar – 2008 (Nov 2008),Bandung, Indonesia,
  • Judge the Garuda Indonesia International Photo Competition 2009, (August), Jakarta, Indonesia,
  • Judge the the 25th FIAP Projected Images Biennial in Bandung, Indonesia, 2009, (August),
  • Presented a solo exhibition entitled “Painting with Light & Shadow- A 50 Year Chronicle” at Ngee Ann Cultural Centre, Singapore, August, 2009
  • Published a book entitled “Light & Shadow – Tan Lip Seng’s 50 Year of Photography” August,2009,
  • Invitation exhibition of “World Renowned Photographer’s Exhibition” in conjunction with The Peoples’ Republic of China 60th Anniversary National Day Cerebrations, held in Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Macau, 2009
  • Invitation exhibition of “17th International Joint Exchange of Photograph Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan, May 2010
  • Judge the 1st Indonesia Salon Of Art Photography 2010, Jakarta, June
  • Invitation to participate the Three Rivers International Photographic Festival,Xining,Qinghai, July 2010
  • Chairman of the Judging Panel of 15th International Exhibition of Photography, Sri Lanka, Sept 2010
  • Judge the Garuda Indonesia International Photo Competition 2010, (October), Jakarta, Indonesia,
  • Judge the Garuda Indonesia International Photo Competition 2011, semi-final (October), Jakarta, Indonesia,
  • Judge the Garuda Indonesia International Photo Competition 2011,final (December), Jakarta, Indonesia,
  • Judge the 2nd Indonesia Salon Of Art Photography 2012, Jakarta, June