Yeoh Siew Hoon gets crash course in nudity, photography and the future.
I met an American photographer the other night who said, “I am having such problems finding models here for my fine art nudes.”
Now that’s the kind of line you stop whatever it is you are doing to think about.
“Fine art nudes? Can you explain?” I asked. Sometimes you have to ask more than one question to get to the answer you are really after.
“European style nudes, the kind you see in European style paintings,” he explained.
Ah.
“So is it because Asians (Singaporeans) do not have the body shapes of Europeans that you have a problem finding models here for your fine art nudes?” I asked earnestly.
“No, it’s not about the physique. It’s about the pose, the stance. Here, when they pose, it’s more pornographic. Like for FHM magazine.”
Ah. Singapore where pornography is banned. I suppose it’s when you don’t have something that you want to be that thing.
He then launched into a discourse about the differences between US West Coast and US East Coast photography.
“East Coast is Annie Liebowitz. ‘I am Annie Liebowitz, you do what I tell you.’ West Coast is ‘you are the subject, you do what you feel like and I am only an observer’.”
He’s dressed in a colourful Hawaiian shirt, so I am guessing he’s West Coast.
He then told us about the difference between silver and platinum plates for photography, and that he will be using platinum plates for his work because they are the best. They will last 150 years, he said.
“Do you think photography will still be around 150 years from now?” I asked earnestly.
“Yes, just like books. This kind of music,” he said, referring to the club music in the background, “will not be around, but Mozart will be.”
I wish I could be as bold as him. I like people who have such conviction of the future. And apparently, he has a track record of predicting the future. A former fund manager, he said he predicted this economic meltdown 12 years ago “but nobody believed me; nobody wanted to listen.”
Then another voice chipped into the conversation, “What about walls? Maybe the whole idea of walls would have changed in 150 years? Maybe we won’t have walls to hang paintings on anymore?”
Ah, the future … only the bold dare enter.
