Saturday, August 15, 2009 ( - )

"Sick of Shit!! (emo smiley face)"

T. College, Subang Jaya, Malaysia

Aperture: f/14.0

Shutter Speed: 1/60

ISO: 800

I got the idea to go on a cathartic photoshoot session at the school where I did my A-Levels through Aaron, a kid in my summer photography class. Aaron went back to his middle school with a camera to, in his own words, "exorcize the demons" that colored his less-than-favorable experience there.

Like Aaron, I wandered around my old high school and thought about what I would say if I were indeed, exorcizing memories I'd rather not be in possession of:

"In the name of all things Beautiful, Good and True, I drive institutions like this away from all young Malaysian minds who thirst and seek the act of true learning, be they past, present or future students of diabolical establishments as such. I drive every form of you away from all young minds; white boxes masquerading as classrooms, forbidding fluorescent lights, cheat sheets, past year question frenzies, rote memorization, deliberate discrimination of the arts, over-glorifying of the sciences, the insatiable glut for "A's", pervasive apathy and chronic, interminable ennui. I adjure you by the living spirits of Freedom of Speech, Critical Enquiry and Creative Thought to stop churning out excesses of unwilling automatons bounded by societal limitations and prestige of their professions- Medicine, Engineering, Law, Accounting--thereby prematurely stunting the Malaysian child's sense of infinite wonder and earnest bravado to seek out his own calling to the best of his unique abilities, that defy all forms of categorization.

Begone, inventor and master of deceitful education

Begone, enemy of every man desiring awareness of his own existence and illimitable courage to question and speak without fear of incarceration

Begone, forever and ever."

I'm a repressed kid. I know ;)

-Darell

Happy Birthday Jian!

Asbury Park, New Jersey

Shutter: 1/1250
Aperture: f/16

Love,
JB

P.S. This is why I hadn't called earlier - I wanted to wish you this way! Only....by the time I got to the beach, it was no longer your birthday. Geeez can't believe you thought I'd forgotten. :) Hope you had a good one.
P.P.S. Nadia sends her love.

"Pushka"
Melbourne, VIC

Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/3s

Possibly the most outrageous coffee joint in Melbourne. Located in a dustbin-filled alleyway and away from the hustle and bustle of the CBD. A place with character, a goldfish called Henry and delicious bagels.

- Jian

no trains on a night like this.

7th ave, manhattan, new york.

NO.

NO.

NO.

:(

aperture: f/3.5|exposure: 1/8

-june.

"The Next Da Vinci?"
Science Centre, Singapore

Aperture: f/3.2
Exposure Time: 1/15
Edits: Cropped

There was a Da Vinci Exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre, showcasing reproductions of his machine inventions and artwork, revelations about the Mona Lisa, a collection of anatomical sketches, and much more. I didn't really get to check out the exhibition...but I did spot this adorable kid! It was rather funny watching his parents and grandmother gesturing wildly for him to spread his arms out like the Vitruvian Man.

~Tian