LEICA GALERIE

In The Eye of a Travelling Salesman 

20 Aug - 30 Nov 2023 | Alan Kwang

Embark on an awe-inspiring visual voyage around the globe through the enchanting photography exhibition curated by Alan Kwang. A seasoned travelling salesperson, Alan sets out on his adventures armed with a Leica camera in 2018. “In The Eye of a Traveling Salesman” serves as a testament to the profound impact of human curiosity and the unifying power of travel. Alan's journey takes us on a global adventure, igniting a sense of wonder and appreciation for the world's diverse cultures, people and landscapes. This exhibition will kindle and unleash your inner passion, inspiring you to explore, embrace new experiences as well as witness the beauty that surrounds us, both near and far.

About Alan Kwang

I have always loved street and portrait photography. My early interests in photography started with cellphone cameras during my frequent business travels for many years. Looking back, during those years of global travels, I have yearned to capture images of people and the lifestyle of different cultures in the places that I visited so much but never did because I wanted to travel “light”. I officially started delving into some serious photography only in 2018 and purchased my first mirrorless camera: I never looked back since.

I went on to appreciate street portraits genre in particular, now that camera comes with better resolutions, rendering and sharpness. I find it challenging to ask a stranger to pose for me in some countries; hence, I mainly shoot from the hip as much as possible and have been able to master it well enough to capture the little snippets of the daily lives of individuals or groups that I find interesting, expressive, unposed and complemented by the mood and their surroundings. The tough part is always to find ways to make them look at you as you snap away. I would describe myself as a “chill” photographer. I enjoy having coffee, wines, cigars and desserts and do my photography walk without having to prepare for a shoot or the need to do so. I like my photography sessions to be relaxed, fun and stressless as our daily lives are already stressful enough.

THE SOUL NEEDS MORE SPACE THAN THE BODY

16.07.21 - 24.08.21 | Munster Cheong & Leslie Heng

As part of our #ChallengeTheLimits campaign, Munster and Leslie stepped out of their comfort zones as they take on one another's style.

Munster is known for his edgy and detailed fashion photography, while Leslie is renowned for his breathtaking work on spaces, architecture and landscape. In this campaign, Munster challenges himself in Leslie's forte of documenting spaces, where he will be exposed to the uncontrollable conditions of nature, as opposed to the finely-tuned studio environments which he is accustomed to, while Leslie challenges his limits by taking on Munster's forte; portraiture - something completely out of his comfort zone. Their works have hit many firsts for themselves and Leica Galerie Singapore!

Read more about the #ChallengeTheLimits campaign here.

FUTURE STUDIES

16.04.21 - 30.06.21 | Luca Locatelli

"Future Studies" is a long-term project by Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2020 winner Luca Locatelli, in which he researches new ways for humanity to survive on planet Earth. With his series of 20 colour photos, he questions the existing concepts around permanent economic growth and, as a result, opens up an intense debate with regard to our relationship with nature and with technology. Luca Locatelli: “One of the characteristic symptoms of the times we are living in is the growing feeling that we are losing the vision of a better future, of a promising, yet unknown, hypothetical tomorrow. During these tough times of Covid19, when the world seems to have stood still, we have been given a chance like never before. We can consider what our behaviour should look like in the future, where efforts should be made to re-establish a healthy relationship with nature and the planet.”

LIFE IN MONO

25.12.20 - 24.02.21 | AikBeng Chia

Featuring snapshots of daily life, taken in public spaces on the streets of Singapore, Life in Mono is a series of monochrome photographs shot by renowned Singapore photographer AikBeng Chia. Driven by a musing on the bonds of human social behavior in public spaces linked together by multicentric municipalities, these images of the mundane everyday life may not mean much now but it gives a glimpse of how ordinary Singaporeans lived for the future generation.

All the photographs are captured with the Leica Q2 Monochrom.

THROUGH THE SALARYMAN'S EYE

10.10.20 - 09.12.20 | Jiro Kochi

 Jiro Kochi (1927-2010) was a salaryman who lived in Takanodai, Tokyo with his wife and three children. He had a lifelong passion for photography and went everywhere with his camera. Over six decades, he took more than 85,000 images of his family, his daily commute to work, the people he encountered, the places he frequented, and anything that caught his curious eye. Significantly, his photographs offered a glimpse into Tokyo life from the 1950s to 1980s, and captured the signs and symbols of Japan in its boom years. 

FACE VALUE

17.01.20 - 31.03.20 | Adele Chan

Face Value is a series of portraits featuring “influencers” and “girls of Instagram”. It throws the spotlight on the changing face of media; how traditional media is being replaced by faces, and how society — including the media — constantly judge these faces, placing values on them. On this topic, Adele created a series of pictures with notable personalities from Singapore's social media generation, captured with the Leica M10-P. Adele Chan is an Editor, Author and Photographer based in Singapore, with close to 20 years of experience in the media industry.

CHINA

10.11.19 - 13.01.20 | Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry decided on China as his first official location to take photographs with the Leica SL2. Conveying a sense of naturalness and confidence, the photographs were like a seamless, uninterrupted flow which continues from his previous Chinese experience. McCurry was the first recipient of the Leica Hall of Fame Award in 2011 and has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest amongst dozens of others.

12 HOURS

13.09.19 - 01.11.19 | STASH & Jahan Loh

The exhibition documents current developments and thoughts from 2 cities exactly 12 hours apart, highlighting fundamental questions by examining the basic philosophical concepts of Time, Space and Existence.

ANGKOR

22.08.19 - 10.09.19 | Michael Lee

On his sixth trip to Cambodia, Michael Lee, with a Leica CL, revisited the majestic Angkor Wat and the villages around Siem Reap, photographing the people who went about their daily lives unaffected by the bustling tourist activities. Proceeds from the sale of prints will benefit the Little Angel Orphanage and Khmer Art Centre.

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

16.05.19 - 12.08.19 | Rosalynn Tay 

Inspired by soft, lyrical vignettes, “Dream a Little Dream” is a series by Rosalynn Tay that echoes the poetic hues created with the Leica M camera and Noctilux lens. The photographer is a wanderer of life, exploring the world to capture moments of beauty in a painterly grace. Her dreams and the fleeting moments of nostalgia marry to form an intimate union. 

LEICA Q2: METAMORPHOSIS

26.04.19 - 14.05.19 | Hosanna Swee 

This exhibition evokes a conversation on duality through Japan's evolving landscape – micro and macro, what’s given and what’s made. It narrates the constant growth in an individual, portraying a sense of reincarnation from one frame to another, which constantly alters with time, yet still keeping to its sense of individuality. In this case, Japan is the subject. Photography is fundamentally a time based medium. And this series fundamentally draws back to Hosanna's journey in photography — who she is, right now, is the process of editing and becoming.

LEICA Q2: @FOREVERHUNGRYTOUR IN BANGKOK

05.04.19 - 23.04.19 | Chooee

The concept of @Foreverhungrytour sprang from the interest of documenting culinary stories through the hungry lens of Chooee. He comes from a background of documenting street culture and fashion and shoots his food in the same style. Shot entirely with the Leica Q2, this exhibition takes you to the old side of Bangkok city, where the light, colours and food have their own unique charm. Each photo represents a story which inter-links to another.

LEICA Q2: SINGKARPOR

07.03.19 - 02.04.19 | AikBeng Chia 

Also known as ABC, AikBeng Chia started photographing in 2008. His vivid and gritty images focusing on the daily lives of people on the streets of Singapore have earned him a strong following of well over 30,000 on Instagram. ABC’s photographs have been exhibited and published internationally. In 2015, he launched his “SingKarPor” Book, and of the thousands of photos taken since 2011, his carefully curated work includes a special feature on the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, an event which saw an unprecedented outpouring of emotion from normally reserved Singaporeans. Driven by a musing based on the bonds of human social behaviour in public spaces, and linked together by multicentric municipalities, SingKarPor continues to be an ongoing project for AikBeng.

BIRDING WITHOUT BORDERS

22.08.19 - 10.09.19 | Noah Strycker

Author and record-breaking birder Noah Strycker captured his birding experiences with a Leica V-Lux camera. In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world’s 10,000 bird species in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled across 41 countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species—setting a new world record. Venturing deep into a world of chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, conservation triumphs, and ecological devastation, Noah found scores of birds and bird lovers everywhere he went. He shares his photos and stories daily with a worldwide audience on his Audubon Birding Without Borders blog. Noah’s images evoke the grace, beauty, diversity, and freedom of the birds that share our world.