Never Again Shall A Single Story Be Told As If It Were Only One Thought
[ 06.04 – 30.06 / 2013 ]
SPRMRKT
Graduating with a Diploma in Architecture, Akai Chew currently works at The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore (“URA”). Pursuing both what he accomplished at school and his passion for photography, SPRMRKT is proud to present his first ever solo show in this series of photographs that captures his eye for detail towards the built environment and in fashion.
Your first solo show! How and when did you discover your love for photography?
My dad had an old compact film camera and I loved the press of a button and hearing the film whirl. As for cityscape photography, it started from my aunt’s house actually. She stayed in this old shophouse which was adorned with many colourful ornaments. She had a motor showroom and workshop downstairs, and she lived upstairs. The whole place was full of character. Soon I began to notice that there were actually many houses like hers. That was how I started noticing architecture.
I picked up a book on design in secondary school which showed a really colourful house with lots of walls and greenery. It got me in love with architecture and photography. I’m amazed at how something so simple can look so breathtaking. Later I learnt that the house was designed by architect Luis Barragan and it was photographed by Rene Burri.
Akai Chew
AKAI (b. 1987) is an artist based in Singapore working with photography and mixed media.
His interests include photography, cartography and urban exploring.
