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Cecilia Lim | all galleries >> Galleries >> urban landscape > Singapore Boom
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17 August 2005 The Esplanade

Singapore Boom

From Third World to First World in less than 50 years. Singapore's growth has been explosive!


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Ken Zaret22-Mar-2009 18:59
Great use of the wide. Draws you in beautifully. Perfectly lit and balanced.
Cecilia Lim11-Jun-2007 09:56
Thanks Melvin for seeing this image through a Singaporean's eyes! I am delighted that you find this image refreshing. The durian roof is indeed quite a spectacular landmark, but I really wanted to portray Singapore as a cosmopolitan city and express the vibe of this very developed country. The circular form added a strong contrast to the skyscrapers and suggest the idea of continuity. While those modern buidlings seem to spring out into the sky like Jack-in-the-box, implying Singapore's explosive growth! This image reminds me of the very essence of Singapore which is quite astounding in comparison with Malaysia, its more laid-back neighbour!
Guest 10-Jun-2007 14:19
This is a refreshing perspective of the Esplanade that you've taken, Celia. While most would have gone for the popular 'durian' roofs, you've managed to show us the courtyard and the business district skyline in the background, even catching a 'slice' of the durian on the right.
Nice.
thechebb17-Jan-2007 20:59
Cecilia,
Excellent photo - I love wide angle shots as they add a sense of dramatic expanse to an image.
Cheers & voted!
Thierry Lucas11-Oct-2006 17:23
Very nice effect,
original composition.
Very nice shot.
Cecilia Lim28-Aug-2006 12:10
Phil, when I stood on the rooftop here looking at this metropolitan view before me, it just looked like a very pretty evening view of this modern city. But when I saw it through my wide-angled lens, the view before me sprang to life! You've often said how important wide-angle lenses are in travel photography, and thanks to you I've learnt to treasure what these lenses can help express. The "perspective police" may have a real problem with me not correcting the distortion of the buildings, but I too, like you, feel that it's precisely this distortion that expresses a dynamic Singapore, branching and exploding outwards. The scale ingruity between man & building that you pointed out also speaks of man's ambitious, self-appointed challenges and his amazing achievement in creating a world of bigger-than-life, mega-structures around them - and especially here, despite being a tiny island nation!
Phil Douglis25-Aug-2006 05:24
What separates this from a post card, Celia, are two incongruities: the scale incongruity of the tiny figure striding into the center of the plaza, and the buildings of Singapore bending towards the sky like a bejeweled crown. Just as your blown highlights made the previous image express its idea, the distorted skyline and the tiny figure carry the meaning here. Not much abstraction to this photo, but all of the energy caused by the distortion certainly speaks of Singapore as a city on the rise.