Portraits of Play

Project in collaboration with Play Unlimited (www.playunlimited.co) and their Re:Play Toy Hub in Da Men mall, USJ1, Subang Jaya.

Project start date: 15 Dec 2022 - 31 Dec 2023

Spontaneous and posed portraits depicting individuals at play

Artist Statement

Imagine a world without play - there would be no art, no creativity, no entertainment, no movies, no music, no innovation, no sports, no imagination nor fantasy…Now, let’s imagine your life without play.

The truth is, it is in our very human nature to play. Sadly we adults seem to so easily abandon play and regard it as a frivolous, childish thing to do. A complete waste of time.

Humans are designed and created to play through our whole lifetime.

Play is fundamental in a child’s development and healthy brain growth especially in their early childhood years. Adult play in all its rich myriad of ways is essential (absolutely necessary) for our survival, health, success and joy in life. Play in the form of artistic pursuits, creative exploration and leisure activities oftentimes helps us cope better with the pain, suffering and stresses of life.

Let us not forget…

Play is not frivolous. It is not a luxury. It is not something to fit in after completing all the important stuff. Play is the important stuff. Play is a drive, a need, a brain-building must-do.

- Jeff A. Johnson & Denita Dinger

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.

— Fred Rogers

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.

- Carl Jung

Play is the highest form of research.

- Albert Einstein

It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.

- Brené Brown

This is the real secret of life - to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play.

- Allan Watts

I invite you to find ways to incorporate play (back) into your daily life.

Come, play!

Artist Statement

This conceptual photography project was birthed out of my own need to keep sane during the lockdown period due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While I relish the slower pace and quieter days to work from home, I must admit there are difficult days when update from friends or people I know from work, involved someone who had passed away due to Covid-19. The onslaught of news regards to double-standard imposed and the constant injustice piled upon the much burdened ‘rakyat’ in need of desperate aid, certainly didn’t help if one is wishing for brighter days ahead to come soon. Daily news of the mounting escalation (made worse by the pandemic) of abusive and violent acts committed against vulnerable children, easily made the dark nights seem even darker.

On a more joyful note, I’m grateful that for the past many weeks, I got to work on creating a birthday celebration video for my client’s beautiful and adorable grandson’s birthday. Looking at the many photos and video clips of this little bundle of joy, from the moment of his birth (and up until now), brought much joy, comfort, and thankfully, a momentarily escape from the saddening reality (affecting many in our society) brought on by the pandemic. I couldn’t help but imagine what a stark contrast between such a well-loved, much-cared-for-little-baby, and the cruel fate experienced by children who have suffered at the hands of their abuser and are now scarred for life.

It would make a world of difference for these children if they’re given the support, guidance and help they need in dealing with the traumatic or abusive experiences they’ve gone through. Through receiving helpful forms of psycho-social support, many of them could begin their healing journey and reimagine (SEE themselves in a different light) their path to a better future. Traumatic experiences encountered during childhood can adversely affect one’s life much later into adulthood. By providing these children with the intervention and psycho-social support services, it could very well alter the trajectory of their adult life.

For this reason (and not discounting the fact that I desperately needed to work on a personal creative project before I cave-in to insanity…Yes, I am exaggerating…a little), I really wanted to do something to not merely highlight and communicate this fact to the public, but to also involve children (and young people) themselves in the process. Thus, this was how the “SEEING” themed project was birthed.

There are many layers of significance I can tie back to the theme of “SEEING”. But for now, it would suffice for me to relate it to a current ongoing fundraising campaign (initiated by children-for-children) that is called “Superheroes For Children”, organised by the nonprofit, Childline Foundation. More info on the campaign HERE.

“Superheroes For Children” campaign + “SEEING” theme

In this campaign, I want to play to the theme of "SEEING" in these 4 aspects:

1) The affected B40 kids (who have been traumatised or abused) need us (WE the adults), to be made aware of (to SEE) their current challenges to have easily accessible and affordable mental healthcare and support services;

2) Children who have experienced trauma/abuse may SEE THEMSELVES IN DISTORTED WAYS (negative or even harmful self-narratives). Often this carries even into their adulthood and could adversely affect their quality of life and relationships.

3) With the intervention in providing them with therapy services and psycho-social support, these children can then have the possibility of SEEING THEMSELVES DIFFERENTLY. They could change their distorted self-narratives into positive possibilities and begin their healing journey - With the care of a trustworthy and caring adult or/and trained mental health professional.

4) The campaign FUNDRAISERS themselves (children, youth, adults) can now SEE themselves as change-makers, and are now also SEEN by others, as someone making an impact in the children’s lives. As such, conveying the message to the public that each one of us could do something and play the role of SUPERHEROES FOR CHILDREN - either by donating, fundraising, spreading the word about the campaign, or just doing our own thing in support of helping vulnerable children.

The “SEEING” Conceptual Photography Creative Process

• Freedom of Creative Expression

  The person being photographed is given the freedom to pose and capture their self-portrait (or some other subject) in a way they think best convey the principles of “SEEING” as laid out in the paragraphs above. I will explain the “SEEING” theme (and what it represents in relation to the campaign) to them, as well as provide visual examples that portray “SEEING”. They are then given the freedom to explore various poses and use of their own props at home to photograph their “SEEING” self-portraits. The narrative accompanying their images could be a description about how they see themselves, or on their perception about others, or even just something they would want to say to the world.

• Co-Creation (in the making of the images)

  The final images you see in the above gallery are the result of the co-creation and creative work of both myself and the person who captured threspective series of images. It would not be made possible without the creative input and creative self-expression poured into the images by the person themselves. Therefore, you will see the person’s name in the caption section undernearth the images they have co-created with me.

• Black-and-White Images

  I chose black-and-white (BW) photography to highlight the fact that often times the desperate plight and the rights of children get overlooked or totally dismissed by us, the adults. It gets drowned out by the ‘colors’ of our adult-oriented society’s norms. The ones who suffered at this expense, is often the most vulnerable among us - our children. It’s high time we do something different (hence, the BW images instead of colored images), unconventional or even radical; with hopes that it would force our society to not just take notice, but to act as champions of children. Another reason why I chose to go with BW images is because I am a big fan of minimalistic photography influenced by the BW portraits captured by the photographer, Richard Avedon.

• Minimal Editing on Images

  Captured images will be emailed to me by the participant. I will then convert the images to BW and perform minimal editing work such as cropping, adjusting contrast, brightness level, etc.

• On capturing the self-portraits at home for this project, they could choose to either capture their own selfie images or to have someone else (e.g. family member) to photograph them. Or in some instances, they may decide to photograph someone else.

• This project may later on involve other groups of persons to be photographed. But as a start, for the first group of individuals, I have included only the fundraisers for the “Superheroes For Children” campaign by Childline Foundation. I will share the purpose and context of this “SEEING” themed project with the fundraisers. They are then given a choice whether they would like to participate in this conceptual photography or not. (UPDATE: As at 21 July 2021, besides this initial group of fundraiser-participants, I have also opened up this project for participation from the public.)

• My creative visual inspiration for this project is very much influenced by the following photographers:

  • Julia Margaret Cameron

  • Richard Avedon

  • Elliott Erwitt

  • Henri Cartier-Bresson

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“I don’t ask for the sights in front of me to change, only the depth of my seeing.”

- Mary Oliver

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