14/09/2024
Within, Without
Photo essay of modernist buildings’ facades in Teluk Intan
“We find photography, especially the ones we exhibit and share with others, to be a portrait of self-expression. It is a way of projecting our worldview and understanding of places and people to the world beyond ourselves. We want to create conversations around the photographs we take. These dialogues can stimulate discussions around the social, environmental, or economic aspects of what we have printed, published, and displayed. We talk about history, the materials, the effort, and the resources behind each building. However, we are also very conscious and careful about this act of self-expression, or what we would call our ‘selfish framed point of view.’ We are aware and intrigued to know more about the relationship between journalism as a method of documentation and photography as an art of interpretation. Slowly, both become more intimate and similar in directing what we want to see, and what we want our readers or audiences to perceive in our work (in some ways, it sounds like indoctrination). Photography is stereotypical (or manipulative) and biased in that sense. For example, we have seen countless photographs of the Teluk Intan Leaning Tower—whether in vector art, icons, or polished photographs—as if that is the trademark of our hometown. Fair enough. We understand how a singular or monotonous message helps people remember Teluk Intan in this information-flooding epoch. Yet we also notice that many ‘local landmarks’ fabricate our memory of the place. They can be ordinary, ugly, or unattractive, but we find certain charms in these often-overlooked backgrounds of daily life here. So we went around Teluk Intan, both within and beyond the town center, looking for other buildings as an alternative way to see Teluk Intan (or Teluk Anson, as it was called). We hope you see them as well and take the time to explore our surroundings more closely.”
Coming soon
