One and Two

Lip Seng

Simplicity is always the keyword in my capture of images with good visual impact. This picture is of a group of students participating in the Youth Festival at the Singapore National Stadium. Multi-racial festivals are aplenty locally. To date, they remain my favourite subjects in creative photography.

This picture was captured from a vantage point. The bias relief effect was created by montaging the original with a piece of lith film. The slide won a plaque in the 9th Torreon International Salon, Mexico in 1976. This image also won the PSA Gold Medal for the Best Contemporary slide of the show at the 25th Worcestershire International Salon, UK in 1977.

Under Construction

Lip Seng

“Man at work” has been my favourite photographic subject all these years. This is another image from my FRPS pictorial panel in 1970. The montage of the lith film with the original to darken the sky has obviously enhanced the visual impact of the entire image. The bias relief effect created by such treatment has helped to further emphasize the simplicity of the composition. This image won a special prize in the 12th Romania International Salon in 1979. This is one of the National Gallery, Singapore, Permanent Collections.

Three Workers

Lip Seng

One of my more successful international salon pictures was taken in the ’60s. The Outram prison in Singapore was being demolished then. This was not a set-up image: I just managed to capture the three workers going back to work after their morning tea break. This image illustrates the importance of being at the right place and time to capture a good image. I montaged the original trans with a piece of positive film to create the bias relief effect. This transparency won a plaque at the 16th Worcestershire International Salon, UK in 1968. This is one of the National Gallery, Singapore, Permanent Collections.