Time is a Dimension

• Prize
• Photographer
  FONG QI WEI, fqwimages.com, Singapore
• Studio
  fqwimages.com
• Website
  http://fqwimages.com

A defining characteristic of a photograph is that is captures an instant of time for
posterity.

In this series, I strive to push the boundaries of time in photography by using a collage
method, with the tools of digital photography, post processing and geometry to
expand the idea that a single print can show change over time.

In each of the five submitted art pieces, I show views of urban Singapore (the skylines,
close ups of architecture, public and private housing) with a traditional framing. But,
there are individual slices that show a gradual transition of time converging and
diverging over sunsets.

The purpose is that our lives are not individual freeze frames. We remember events
unfolding across time, rather than individual freeze frames. In each of these collaged
urbanscapes, I hope that I can show you the experience I get when I viewed the sunsets
across my country.

• Biography
  I am a conceptual fine art photographer based in Singapore with 10+ years of experience with digital photography and image optimization. My philosophy regarding art is that an artist is a communicator, and that his message should be an authentic and original one. The artist, in order to create good or great work, should strive to ensure purity of message through various means, be it mastery of his medium or reiterations. In this spirit, my take on my photographic art is that it starts with my idea or concept which is preconceived in my mind, goes through the process of set up, photographic capture and image optimization, and finally ending up with a fine art print. The final print is my art, not my online gallery, not images you see in magazines and certainly not those you get on Facebook :) My website is titled "Thoughtful Photography"- and essentially I strive to make art that let people think, and engage. So far the theme that has emerged from my art is that I try to engage my audience by providing a new perspective on familiar subjects. These subjects have included my "Old Singapore Playground" series where I have done light paintings to recreate a whimsical feel of nostalgia, the "Inversion" series where I present a different form of seascapes, and also my "Exploded Flowers" series where I give a fresh perspective on a very familiar theme. Through my art, I hope that I can introduce my point of view to my audience and engage them beyond aesthetics. I wish to provoke them to think further about the familiar and apparently ordinary- to get them to ask "why", "what if" and so on. I also hope to inspire Singaporean photographers to loom beyond street photography and traditional genres like landscape and portrait photography. And I envision that other young photographers can look upon the photographic process and the post processing steps as a medium for self expression to take Singapore photography to a new level. I have a website at fqwimages.com where you can see online galleries of my art. I have received honorable mentions in the International Photography Awards, latest of which was in 2011, for my series "Old Singapore Playgrounds".