An ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with VSE / House of VSE

This is an ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with Very Small Exhibition (VSE) / House of VSE. Let me bring you on a quick recap/travel back in time on how I started this journey. 

I first met artist Wei in 2021 at Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) for MHC x VSE support World Mental Health Day. That was followed following his Very Momentary Exhibition artworks displays and unforgettable experience with this Bring LOVE Everywhere.

In 2022, I wrote about “How I Met/Follow/Support Very Small Exhibition and Bring LOVE Everywhere”,  Today’s story would definitely be an add-on and continuation of my earlier story published in 2022.  That’s also Rainbow illumiNation – Celebrating 1 year of Very Momentary Exhibition.

Over the next few years till date, there were Your Artist Neighbour Exhibition by VSE in 2023, Explore and Discover your Inner “Chin-Chin” World in 2023, Tension by House of VSE in 2023, Modulation – A series of Participatory Art Experiences in 2024.

There were more photographs and videos that I didn’t manage to write it down into visual stories and published on this website. I am curating and uploading more photographs into my House of VSE / Very Small Exhibition / Bring LOVE Everywhere collection on Flickr, where readers can view more of my visual storytelling / documentary journey here.

Oh yes, this is still my ongoing visual storytelling / documentary journey with VSE / House of VSE.

Very In-depth personal sharing by Artist Wei

From my conversations with Artist Wei over the years at his various different artworks (whether work-in-progress or at the exhibitions itself), he doesn’t share that much in-depth about the different things that he was facing (probably like many of us out there too).

At The Substation Sub+ Artist Talk – Wormhole with Very Small Exhibition, friends/supporters present at the event venue (and those watching on Zoom too) were treated to a very in-depth personal sharing by the artist himself. 

We heard about the meanings, stories and inspirations behind the colour choices (Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, White), that many of us would associate with his iconic, bright and colourful rainbow themed artworks. 

Vulnerability

Vulnerability – That hits me deeply. This is something that everyone of us are facing it. We are not super human, we are never perfect, and in some ways we can be vulnerable to many different curve balls or situations thrown at us in our lifetime.

This is not just because as a practicing creative artist, you are more vulnerable than others who are not inside this industry. Our human race, we human beings, are facing some form of vulnerability at different stages of our life, some bigger than others.

Mental Health Matters

Mental Health Matters – The most recent global pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 (COVID-19) gave limelight to mental health awareness and why mental health matters. Artist Wei shared deeply on this, how it impacted him and affected his artwork journey, and why his artworks are therapeutic not just for himself, also for the greater community as well. 

Running a business is very stressful and challenging, let alone it’s part of the creative / artistic / media related production industry. Life, costs of living and societal pressures add up to our pressure cooker environment, some of us handled it alright, some couldn’t. There are times when people’s barriers and defences fell, they might be facing further more unknown and potentially bigger mental health battles ahead.

In a nutshell, Mental Health Matters, enough said. 

The Conflicting Personas that a Creative / Artist face

One of the key sharing by artist Wei that resonates deeply with me during the artist talk was on conflicting personas that a creative / artist face. As a photographer that runs both commercial/professional and personal/leisure/creative segments, I faced similar challenges, difficulties, as well as experiencing conflicting personas as “A Good Person”. “An Artist” and “A Business Person”.

In my personal humble opinion, I won’t say it’s impossible. However, to reach a stage of a good person, an artist that can practice his or her art and craft without too much stress or pressure and running it as a profitable business, it’s kind of a utopian world that many of us would like to have, even for those not in the art and craft or creative industries.

Personally, we have to separate what brings us the revenue (commercial / professional photography business), that can actually fund most of our personal photography projects or even documentary visual storytelling projects. 

Sometimes, or most of the time, we are juggling and handling all three personas on our own, and that makes us vulnerable, whether we like it or not. 

More than just documenting visual stories – Inspiration, Learning and Opening Up my Creativity 

On a personal and professional basis, this has been a very colourful, insightful, inspiring and encouraging journey supporting, documenting and writing about Very Small Exhibition / House of VSE over the years

The Phoblographer recently published this article, titled “What sketching can teach you about photography?” This is a great sharing and insights for photographers as well as fellow creatives from other genres. We can learn much more, open up our views and perspectives, be inspired and even opening up your creativity further by visiting or engaging arts of different forms and genres.

Through my journeys over the years, photographing and documenting VSE / House of VSE, I have also benefitted in my art and craft segment (still not that good with painting, drawing or making sculptures). My biggest takeaway for me is opening up my creativity, and how I can combine art and craft more into my photography. 

More than just documenting visual stories – Inspiration, learning and opening up my creativity through my ongoing journeys with VSE / House of VSE.

When my visual storytelling, documentary combines with art and craft, this give rise to my own creative artist story sharing, my style, my inner voice, right here on TGH Photography and Travel.

 * Photos shot with vivo V50 smartphone with its ZEISS Multi-focal Portrait lenses. A TGH Photography x vivo V50 visual storytelling series production. *

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I would also like to take this opportunity to say a big Thank You to various camera, travel companies, travel community partners, technology brands, pr and media agencies, organisations and fellow photographer friends, filmmakers, creatives and supporters for this great working relationships, friendships and support for my photography and travel portal/blog during this Year 2022 as the world accelerated the reopening and recovery of the economy. 

I probably wrote too much in previous editions of Merry Christmas posts, therefore I decided that I would leave that for my year end reflection post instead. Here’s wishing all of you a Merry Christmas 2022, hope you have a great time with your family, loved ones and friends over food, drinks, gatherings, warmth, care, hope and love.  

Thank you for your belief, support and encouragement in Year 2022! 

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“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy”, Jane Marczewski (Nightbirde). 

Everyone of us had own issues, problems and situations to manage, handle and resolve, we all have our ups and downs. Life is never easy, some had it tougher than others. Personally, I had my fair share of ups and downs, however last year 2021 was one of my most difficult periods, mentally and emotionally, there were huge struggles on both personal and professional aspects. I am still struggling (lesser as compared to 2021), I wasn’t happy even though I don’t show it on my facial expressions.

Recalling Nightbirde’s quote, we can choose and decide to be happy. A gentle reminder, a wake up call, I can choose and decide to be happy. This is not going to be an instant change, first and foremost, I am making the decision to be happy, while facing all the incoming headwinds and challenges head on.

Jane Marczewski (Nightbirde) passed away on 19th February 2022, her voice, words, positivity and courage will always be remembered. 

Rest in peace, Nightbirde.

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I welcome New Year 2022 in a very different way, no fireworks just photographing commercial ships berthed off the coast of East Coast Park firing their flares into the sky when the time strikes 12 midnight with photography friends Belinda, CK and William. Although I didn’t get my money shot of a lightning strike hitting the Straits of Singapore along with the flares, my 3 other friends got their money shot! 

In case you missed it, here’s my Reflecting 2021 (Photography and Travel) and also my Reflecting 2021 (Technology, Business and Personal) on my other portal/blog. Today marks the start of a brand new year, a new hope and a fresh new beginning.   

I am taking a rest during this New Year long weekend break, consolidate and prepare myself for a new year ahead. I would be sharing my yearly theme soon, along with some of my plans, thoughts and views for this year 2022. 

Happy New Year 2002! Stay safe and healthy as we continue battling this ongoing global pandemic! Let’s spread love, kindness, compassion to the people around us, our society and around the world!

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As we enter into the final month of Year 2021, I would also like to share some photo stories and happenings that took place over the past few months. 

First and foremost

First and foremost, while there had been immense difficulties emotionally, mentally and financially for this year 2021.

I want to take this opportunity to be thankful and grateful, with utmost gratitude, humility and kindness to all who have helped me and pulled me out from my rut, those who supported, encouraged and believed in me during this very difficult year 2021. Let’s be kind, compassionate and spread love. 

Please do not judge, none of us are having an easy time during this battle against this ongoing global pandemic situation.

Help each other if you are able to

We are entering into a brand new year 2022 soon, this year would not exactly be a smooth sailing year as we are still grappling and battling this ongoing global pandemic situation. Let’s work on getting our life, our business and our work back on track, hoping that we can restart our recovery proper. 

Help each other if you are able to, support fellow local small and medium sized business, they are the ones who are most severely affected by this ongoing pandemic induced economic crisis. 

Gifts from lucky draws

Since I missed my Japan travel so much, I am following Japan Rail Cafe and Hokkaido Government Representative Office FB pages on a regular basis. They had a few travel events held online, it was good to take away some of my travel wanderlust for Japan. There were lucky draws held during the online travel events and I was lucky to win some gifts from their lucky draws! 

Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On

I discovered my passion for cooking during my UQ uni days, as part of my subject curriculum and for my daily living/meals. I do not deny that I had been slacking over the decades after finishing my studies. However, I rediscovered this cooking/roasting passion of mine again when the pandemic hit us in 2020. 

Cooking haJs a mix of therapeutic activities for me as well as being practical, having home cooked meals whenever I am able to do so, instead of eating out or having take away all the time. 

I have been doing some roasting in recent weeks, two of my favourite food, roast pork a.k.a. sio bak and char siew pork. They are works-in-progress, learning from my mistakes at each cooking/roasting, making improvements in my next roasting. During the Christmas festive week, I hope to Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On, with my roast pork and char siew pork delights, along with some other dishes on the back of my mind too. 

Reward myself once a while

I don’t usually buy many things, once a while I would buy some things for myself, it’s nice to reward myself once a while. I am planning to add a Japanese gyuto knife a.k.a. Chef Knife into my cooking/chef setup.

All I want to do 

Be happy, take care of myself more, be less mentally and emotionally burnt out like this photo of me rocking alone on the playground (it’s a posed photo by the way). 

Spread the message of love, care and compassion, for Earth, our natural environment, for our loved ones, for myself. 

Coming soon in January 2022

Coming soon in January 2022, I would be publishing and launching my second photography zine, this photography zine is a mix of therapy and playbook coming together. I am also working on getting my first NFT photography artwork minted and listed. More details would be shared along the way leading up to January 2022, stay tuned!

Last but not least

Last but not least, it’s an open call every year during the month of December: Anyone would like to buy me a 2-in-1 Christmas (December) + Birthday (January) gift?

The post Bring a very difficult year 2021 to a close on a high appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

On World Kindness Day 2021, I am spreading kindness, love and compassion through my photographs together with my heart-felt sharing.

Be kind to the world

The time is now, we have to start taking more notice and action on our world that we live in. Global warming, climate change, pollution and wastage of resources are huge pressing issues that we need to address, not just for us, it’s for our future generations and beyond.

Be kind to one another

Human beings are social creatures, we need each other to live and survive. Let’s be kind to one another instead. 

• Check on your loved ones/family/relatives/friend, ask them, how are they coping? Are they alright?
• Lend a listening ear
• Be there for them
• Please do not judge

Last but not least be kind to yourself 

Sometimes, we all forget that, everything starts within yourself first, if we can’t take care of ourselves, we can’t take care or help other people. 

First and foremost, be kind to yourself first, take care of yourself first.

Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On: Spread kindness, love and compassion

The whole world can do more with kindness, love and compassion, something that we need more than before in a world getting more polarised and divided by global issues around the world, amplified through social media. 

On World Kindness Day 2021, let us Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On, spread kindness, love and compassion. 

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Prior to this “bring LOVE everywhere” test walk 2 on 6th November 2021, I recently visited Malay Heritage Centre recently to photograph an earlier light artworks by VSE on display. Malay Heritage Centre had collaborated with Very Small Exhibition to light up the facade of its main building in different hues of blue in support of World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2021, while Malay Heritage Centre’s annex buildings were lighted up with the art collective’s signature neon colour lights.

After photographing a beautiful sunset at East Coast Park, Belinda and myself waited for Very Small Exhibition to arrive at East Coast Park White Jetty. From a distance, you can’t miss the bright and colourful 4 letter words “LOVE” making its way into the East Coast Park heartlands. 

This marked the start of an hour of interaction with the LOVE light artwork, doing light painting around the LOVE artwork, bringing them into a new dimension and realm, with supporters coming down to pen their love messages on the LOVE sticker and pasting them on the LOVE light artwork. 

Those moments were bright and colourful, spreading love, and asking ourselves, what is love, what does it mean to you, what are the messages that you would like to write down and send to your family, loved ones, relatives and friends? It was a quiet moment for me, and for some of us too, as we reflect on LOVE, its importance, relevance and how we can spread the message of LOVE, especially during this past close to two years (and counting) of great difficulties to our daily living and work due to the ongoing global pandemic. Many of us suffered in many different ways or another, some more than others. How can LOVE plays a part to help people in whatever ways possible during this great difficulty period that has affected us mentally, emotionally and financially? 

During a quiet moment inside me, I was immersed in creating the light painting while Belinda was photographing my light painting artworks, my heart was thinking about this topic too. As I was penning down my message for “bring LOVE everywhere”, I asked myself:

Q:What is Love? 

A: Love is of Fate and Time.

Love is of Fate and Time, I wrote and published a photo story article “Fate and Time” back in June 2021, my article title and the story inside speaks for itself, my heartfelt answer to the question above. That period of time, coupled with other situations happening concurrently, was a very down period. For those who wish to know what could have happened, this paragraph would shed more light.     

While Belinda and myself were at East Coast Park White Jetty, we got to know supporters who were also waiting for Very Small Exhibition “bring LOVE everywhere”. Nice to meet cheryllovescake and dototo13! They joined us in our light painting photography shoot too! We connected via Instagram later, after Very Small Exhibition continued with their journey along East Coast Park. 

Through Belinda and cheryllovescake sharing on their Instagram posts and stories, their sharing of love messages as well as from classic love songs, they are heartwarming, positive and encouraging, something that is very much needed during this time for many of us out there facing our own unique challenges and difficulties, in our ongoing battle against this global pandemic. Love can give us great hope, warmth and confidence, love can also hurt us and affect us. 

Spinning out some love ballads from my Spotify, these classic LOVE rock ballads pop into my mind, “All You Need is Love” by Beatles, “More Than Words” by Extreme, “Love is not the Way” by Saigon Kick and one of my favourite songs by Queen “Love Of My Life”. Not forgetting, “温柔”, ”擁抱“, “心中無別人” from another of my favourite rock bands 五月天!   

Do support local artists whenever possible, Pay-It-Forward and Pass-It-On, spread the word for them, giving them more publicity and awareness. I would give them a shout out, cover their stories and artworks as and when I am able to do so. Throughout the years writing and publishing photo stories here on my TGH Photography and Travel portal/blog, I met a number of creative, talented and passionate local artists through various events such as i Light Singapore and Singapore Night Festival. 

In January 2022, Very Small Exhibition is challenging themselves to their limit, bringing LOVE one round around Singapore in 6 consecutive nights. Let’s all help to spread some LOVE, warmth and friendship together with Very Small Exhibition. 

Very Small Exhibition

Website: www.verysmallexhibition.com 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/verysmallexhibition/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verysmallexhibition 

What is Love? Love is everywhere, it’s around us, from our family, loved ones or friends, sometimes we just lost it because we are too close deep inside that we don’t realise it. Love, however, sometimes it’s about fate and time as well. 

No matter what level and stage of Love you are at right now, that’s something we can all do together for a common good, let’s bring LOVE everywhere and unite together stronger, closer, care and help one another as we are still battling this global pandemic situation, a common goal as we seek the light at the end of the tunnel filled with love, joy and a return to a more normal life.

Let’s #BringLoveEverywhere!

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Let me share with you Canon Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2019! Check out the Canon’s Valentine’s Day Gift Guide 2019 below!

For the wanderlust couple jetting off to the exotic unknown

Canon EOS R Kit – S$4,898

For the lady, getting the Canon EOS R for your boyfriend or husband (I reckon they will love the new and latest Canon full frame mirrorless camera toy) and get him to do all the photography for you (anyway, the guy now has no excuse not to do it for you since they got this wonderful Valentine’s Day Gift from you!), they would be the perfect Insta-BF/Husband for your #couplegoals, OOTD, parties, events and travel holidays.

* Free mount adapter EF-EOS R with purchase, valid till 28 Feb 2019

* Customers must register product warranty online to receive mount adapter

Valentine’s Day Promotion – Couple Goals! For the couple that can’t resist a good deal

Both of you buy a Canon mirrorless camera for each other as part of your couple goals, go out and enjoy couple time taking photographs together! If you would like to know more about the Canon EOS M6, check out my review article here!

For Her : Canon EOS M100 Kit (EF-M15-45 IS STM) – PINK, S$699

For Him : Canon EOS M6 Kit (EF-M15-45 IS STM) – SILVER, S$899

*Free Canon SelphyCP 1300 Printer (Pink) worth $199 with purchase, valid till 1 – 10 Feb 2019 for eShop and till 14 Feb 2019 for authorized dealers

For lovers who Loves to Print On-The-Go

Canon Mini Photo Printer – S$189

The Canon Mini Photo Printer is highly recommended for couples, print on the go while having a date, attending events or when you are both traveling overseas for holiday. Printing photographs can be really fun and I hope my photography article can inspire you further to print and share the love of printing!

*FreeTokidokigifts worth $98 (Pouch, lanyard, charm, body sticker, tote bag) with purchase, valid till 24 Feb 2019

For the selfie-loving couple ready to up their game

PowerShot SX740 HS – S$529 

Moments don’t last forever, which is why you need a handy camera for both photo and video-taking to ensure that every important memory is captured. The PowerShotSX740 HS allows you to capture those cherished, once-in-a-lifetime experiences quickly and easily.

You can also flip the camera screen to take cute selfies together!

* Free 16GB SD with purchase, valid till 28 Feb 2019

For the DIY artists or couples who embark on a business together

Scrapbooking + Nail Sticker Printing : PIXMA TS8270 – S$299

* Free Klean Kanteen insulated bottle and 2 packs of nail stickers worth $86 with purchase, valid till 24 Feb 2019

Home Businesses + Nail Sticker Printing : PIXMA TS707 – $179

* Free pack of nail sticker, 3.5” PP-201 paper and 5” PP-201 paper worth $32.90, valid till 24 Feb 2019

For the Homebodies that Love to Netflix & Chill (literally)

Canon RAYO S1 Mini Projector – S$559

Netflix and chill in higher resolution and on a bigger screen with the Canon RAYO S1 Mini Projector,the perfect device to bring on dates anytime, anywhere.

* Free Targus Bag worth $119 with purchase, valid till 24 Feb 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day Shopping 2019 with Canon!

* Information and pictures courtesy of Canon Singapore and Ogilvy Public Relations *

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