Topic: How you can Make Use of your Art to Make a Difference

Speaker: Tay Kay Chin

Photography is a very powerful tool in communicating ideas, fears and hopes. Working with NGOs and aid agencies, a photographer is no longer a passive observer, but one who has an important task of telling the world the living condition of a community. Join photographer and educator Tay Kay Chin as he explores how photographers and visual artists can use their influence as image makers to motivate people to act.

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About Tay Kay Chin

Tay Kay Chin, a Singapore-based photographer, spent more than a decade in newspapers in Singapore and USA and held positions from photographer to presentation editor. A photojournalism graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, he has exhibited widely and his photographs are collected by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European House of Photography in Paris and private collectors.

A vocal advocate of photography in Singapore, he co-founded Southeast Asia’s first photography workshop, Shooting Home; coordinated the exchange program for Sunderland-based International Photography Research Network; and curated Out of Focus, a series of exhibitions for Month of Photography Singapore 2006. His other curatorial experience includes being picture editor for the Singapore History Museum SARS exhibition, as well as being director of photography for Mercy Relief’s Glimpses of Light exhibitions.

He also wrote the introduction essay for Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Early Works exhibition, which was shown in Singapore in June 2006. From 2003-2008, as a member of the Resource Panel for Photography for Singapore’s National Arts Council, he sat on several selection committees for the Cultural Medallion and Young Artist awards, the highest arts accolades in Singapore.

In 2003, Hasselblad named him one of 12 Hasselblad Masters of the world, in recognition of his Panoramic Singapore series; and that was followed by professional partnerships with Epson and Olympus. His editorial works have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Saveur Magazine, Time Asia, Newsweek, Hasselblad Forum, Searay Living, Brutus, The New York Times, Asahi Weekly, Asian Geographic, Skylines, Silverkris, and Asia Business. He has also done corporate works (http://www.eastpix.com/pdfs/taykaychin_corporateworks.pdf) for Shell UK, Singapore Technologies, Lez Amis Group, Singapore Petroleum Company, DBS, United Overseas Bank, MTV Asia, Singapore Tourism Board, WingTai, Land Transport Authority of Singapore, Singapore Youth Flying Club, Biopolis Singapore, Urban Renewal Authority of Singapore, Port of Singapore Authority, Nike, Erco and Goodrich.

In 2007, Becoming Capa (http://www.eastpix.com/words/becomingcapa.pdf) , a short story he wrote in university was adapted and released as a full-length feature film, Becoming Royston (http://www.becomingroyston.com/) ; and in 2008, a photographic novella based on that short story was published. He is currently working on several personal photography projects, writing a regular blog, and at the same time taking on selected commercial commissions.


Estimated Duration: 120 mins