pianomania: Tan Lip Seng

Wednesday, 26 August 2026

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN LIP SENG: A LIFE IN COLOUR @ OBJECTIFS CHAPEL / Part 1

Coming to Objectifs - Centre for Photography & Film can be an absorbing habit indeed. If you are anywhere in the Middle Road precinct, a visit to Objectifs is a must. Stumbling onto whatever is on show is part of the discovery. On this occasion, Objectifs Chapel Gallery is home to a lively exhibition of photographs by 1985 Cultural Medallion recipient Tan Lip Seng (1942-2025).

Tan Lip Seng: A Life In Colour is a retrospective, a celebration of his keen eye, patience and work in the darkroom. Those were the days before digital photography, when individual films had to be painstakingly developed and mistakes could just ruin pictures.

I was pleased to learn that Mr Tan had been a medical photographer employed by the University of Singapore's Faculty of Medicine. Joining in 1966, he stayed for over four decades and his work involved photographing people with diseases, pathological organs, dissected specimens as well as cadavers, all for the sake of medical and scientific research and documentation.

The contrast of colours, between light and shade, is fascinating, and favourite subjects seem to have included landscapes with natural bodies of water (reservoirs in particular) and ordinary people at work. Here is a selection of some of his best work.

People at work:

The Singapore General Hospital laundry
during the 1960s.

This exhibition runs till 27 September 2026.

Check out Part 2 here:

pianomania: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN LIP SENG: A LIFE IN COLOUR @ OBJECTIFS CHAPEL / Part 2

Tan Lip Seng: A Life in Colour - Objectifs

Tuesday, 25 August 2026

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN LIP SENG: A LIFE IN COLOUR @ OBJECTIFS CHAPEL / Part 2

Just another look at the stunning and evocative photography of Tan Lip Seng, who was awarded the Cultural Medallion for Visual Art in 1985. The secret of photography is capturing a moment in time, under the right settings, a process that is unique and unrepeatable. It is unlikely that his subjects knew they were being photographed, but they have become a little bit part of history in the life of Singapore. (These days, you need to get their permission before snapping away. By the time permission is granted, all spontaneity is lost forever. So f**k that.)

Sometimes, you need someone
to stand out in life.

Back on the theme of men

(and women) at work:

My photos of Mr Tan's photos can never reproduce the freshness and immediacy of his shots. Funnily, they even distort the original images, which is itself another way of looking at art. The textured details of some of his photographs now take on a pointillist quality, an impression that was not lost on artists like Georges Seurat. I can only pretend to have their eyes for detail, but can only hope nonetheless.