17-year-old student Yu Jie, developed an interest in photography at age 14. One year later, he delved into the conceptual art of the 60s and 70s.

From early 2009 onwards, what started out as a simple experiment for Yu Jie, was elaborated into three concurrent series. Keeping in line with the use of time and motion, the themes developed include “Time as Motion”, “Time as Repetition” and “Time as Change”. In this way, time actually becomes a medium, like a paintbrush, and the camera the tool to capture the results.

Yu Jie’s body of work was recently on display at the 2010 Noise Singapore Festival Showcase.  “Since February of 2009, my work has been conditioned by the same phenomena that govern the lives of most people, repetition and patterns,” she adds. “Instead of crying out against this state of existence, I aim to beautify repetition and routine. I had begun experimenting with motion, but found the linear progression of images to be stifling. A break-through came when I created the piece, “Traces of a Fruit Fly in the Plastic Box a Watch Came In”, the first in a new body of work which displayed images occurring in a period of time simultaneously, allowing for different interpretations of movement and time.

“I began by taking a number of photographs of one scene (changing scenes or moving when required), ranging from 12 to over 300 images. With computer software, they are batch-processed, focusing mainly on altering color and saturation, but never modifying the relative contrast between photographs. They are then placed into almost-square digital canvases, and then printed as canvas prints and mounted.”

Project 859 is a photography exhibition, which hopes to inspire connections and interactions between Singaporeans through submitted photos of 08:59 moments. The project is a public artistic collaboration that presents an aerial view of simultaneous happenings in Singapore, and will uncover how many people in the city, share your life in different ways at 08:59am.

From 22 through 28 March, members of the public are invited to take a picture daily at exactly 8:59am, and email it to photos@project859.com.  The last submission will be accepted on 28 March, at 12:00pm noon. The photos will be a part of an exhibited photo mosaic at Orchard Central, Level 4.

Project 859 is part of a series of three exhibitions, which includes the 859 Community Outreach Feature, as well as Moments, a visual arts exhibition. On view from 22 through 29 March at Orchard Central, Level 4.

Describing himself as “a self-taught lens-man with a passion for learning”, Nelson Lim’s love for photography has been the driving force behind his art.  His proficiency with the camera is reflected in his exhibition history.  Some of his recent exhibitions include Singapore Art Museum’s ‘Transport Asian’ and LASALLE College of the Arts ‘Go Home and Think’.

Nelson about his work: “Exploration of the daily experiences in life, was translated into an art form, from which series of conceptual photography works are captured and made into small albums.  I have installed the small custom made albums onto the album shelf.  The series of work create the process of capturing, recording, printing, making, displaying and interacting.  I have developed the works over a period of time, and made them into albums, which is how I show the context and which defines the experience.”

Check out Nelson’s work at the Moments Visual Arts exhibition, which opens on 22 March, and remains at Orchard Central through 29 March.

ri4nt is a 25-year-old working professional, who enjoys balancing work with his take at graphic art and photography. In search for inspiration, he ventures off deep into the fabrics of the garden / lion / transformation city, equipped with nothing but his nifty camera named snappy, and a bit of cash in hand to purchase another one of them design magazines – he likes those. “I have humble dreams to one day own my own design firm. I would like to create affordable, everyday products, designed to improve the life of people and the environment”, ri4nt adds.

ri4nt’s work -Bursting Forth- received a Merit Prize in the Noise 2010 Celebration Themed Category. “The illustration depicts the synergized burst of energy expected to take place through the numerous sport events during the 2010 Youth Olympics. I enjoy how the black and white elements radiate both intricacy and simplicity – and a dash of colour by the side standing as the focal point highlighting when the eyes of the World will once again cast onto Singapore.”

Kong Chong Yew graduated from Singapore Polytechnic in 2006, and is currently pursuing his passion in photography at the NTU School of Arts, Design and Media. “I picked up photography accidentally when I wanted a change of co-curriculum activity,” Chongyew explains. “In my second year, I joined the school’s photography club and fell in love with black and white photography.”

Chongyew’s pictures have won him several accolades at national level, notably in 2005 when he came in first in the NUS montage student category.

“As a documentary photographer, I am interested in the relationship between my subjects and their surroundings,” Chongyew says about his work. “In the Small Things series -pictured above- my subjects are seen making a conscious decision -or they are the result of a conscious decision- which suggests that they are in control of their will. Yet is this true? Pitted against the environment, my subjects are placed in an uncomfortable and awkward position, questioning their control over what they thought they have over themselves.”

Ceriph began as a non-profit project between three undergraduates, who noticed friends and acquaintances creating poetry, prose, and photography that deserved to be shared. They began a search for a space in print that was accessible to non-professional local writers, that was neither too formal nor flippant.

The inaugural issue of Ceriph is a compilation of poems, short fiction, pictures and non-fiction, telling quiet stories across busy cities, a thread that binds these tales into a book. The independently published Issue Zero features the works of Laremy Lee, Desirée Lim, Sudev S., Mark Lam, Shane Pereira, Lee Fur-Fur, Cai Li Xian, Ng Yiqin, Andrew Robert Ng, Sharlene Teo, Riot, Captain Crash, Jonah Sun, Wei Fen Lee, Ang Shao-Wen and Linette Lim.

Ceriph’s book launch will kick off at 7:30pm on 12 March at BooksActually. Join the facebook page for updates, or just cross out the date on your calendar.

An Interactive designer by profession, Bel Ragay spent the last six years harnessing her skills in Interactive, Print, Web, and Graphic design. She has worked as Web Designer and Developer at First Academy of Computer Arts and GoVida Studios/Earth Council before she moved to Singapore in 2007.

Imperial -pictured above-  was one of the winning pieces in the 2010 Noise Singapore Arts and Design competition. Bel about her work: “Women of all ages have often described their hair as their crowning glory. I have always been fascinated over the fact that hair plays a great factor on women’s lives. We braid it, put flowers, tiara, crowns, colors on it – just some of the many creative ways we make ourselves more beautiful through our hair. This artwork celebrates the beauty and creativity of women with their hair and how important it is for women to have beautiful hair.”

Renz Hu is a Photography and Digital Imaging undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design and Media. Greatly influenced by cinematographic directions and his training as an architectural assistant, Renz’s work experiments with light and shadows, paying special attention to the interaction between lines, surfaces, form and details.

About his work: “Inspired by the diminishing sale of exotic traditional Chinese medicine, this series is a sub-collection of works that stems from a larger series. Removed from their glass coffins, the subjects are given new life. I am deeply attracted by their extraordinary surface texture, and the force that exudes from their amazing forms.”