I’ll be back in Singapore in two weeks, and all the planning has prompted me to revisit some of my photos from my last visit in 2016. Whenever I’m in such a vibrant and cosmopolitan city, I feel that doing street photography is inevitable even if I’m hardly any good at it. In fact, I think I pretty much suck. But, I can sometimes be persistent enough to believe that I’ll eventually figure it all out and start getting better. So I take to the streets anyway – at least when I’m traveling, because everything seems to catch my eyes.

But, as for these photos from two years ago, I’ve long forgotten about them as I didn’t really like them at first. After I left them forgotten and marinating in my hard drive for so long, I think I’ve cleared myself of all the initial emotional detachment or resentment. I looked at them recently with a different eye and mindset, and I was finally able to cull a selection. 

I took the photos using color negative film. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what they looked like in black and white. Sometimes, a photo just works better with all the colors stripped off. And it also kind of made sense in a symbolic way – both colors and memories fade. 

I’m definitely shooting street again once I’m back in Singapore. These photos aren’t that good yet, but maybe if I keep going, I’ll get there.

Photos taken using Nikon FE2 + Fuji Superia 400 (converted to black and white)