Bronze in Book/Documentary / 2026 / Book / Documentary

• Prize
  Bronze in Book/Documentary
• Photographer
  Chin Hock Tan, Singapore
• Date of Photograph
  Feb 2026
• Website
  http://www.holdinghands.sg

Chinese New Year is often photographed at its peak: loud, crowded, and celebratory. This photobook looks at what happens before that moment.

Set in Singapore’s Chinatown, the series documents the days leading up to Chinese New Year, focusing on preparation, work, belief, and everyday routines. Rather than spectacle, the work observes how culture is sustained through ordinary actions: shops opening early, goods being prepared by hand, prayers offered quietly, and meals shared after long hours of work.

These moments reveal Chinatown not as a tourist destination, but as a living neighbourhood.

An advocate of strong families, Chin Hock is known for promoting filial piety in Singapore. For the dedication to his parents and for advocacy of the Asian value ‘Filial Piety’, he was awarded the filial piety award conferred by Nanyang Confucian Association in 2013. An avid photographer, his family themed photographs have been featured in the Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition (NAPE), one of the largest
photography exhibitions in Singapore, from 2015 – 2019 consecutively. The avid photographer revolves his life around family, running and dark chocolates.

Awards PX3 Book Best New Talent 2019
https://px3.fr/winners/px3/2019/10680

Inspiring author of photobook ‘Father (父), Mother (母)’ https://singapore.kinokuniya.com/bw/9789810969318)

Photo exhibits on family values were selected for the Ngee Ann Photography Exhibition (Singapore) in 2015- 2021.