Lively Ditchwater

In 2010, The Institute relocated to Singapore. After a month apartment-sitting above a Chinese print shop and across the street from Raflles Hotel, we eventually rented a flat in the Clementi public housing estate (HDB) in the Western part of the island. Built in the 1980s, Clementi is a newish estate. Prior to resident-relocation and HDB construction, the area was known for an unofficial dirt bike racing course that ran through a jungle forest surrounded by traditional villages (Kampongs).

Singapore is famous for being clean and orderly. The HDB estates that cover the island are homogeneous concrete tower blocks that give the space a kind of self-replicating sameness. There is virtually no graffiti ($2000SG fine and a three to eight stroke caning is the penalty). Though I came to see the ways Singaporeans resist the state-imposed orderliness of everyday life, there was for me, at first, an oppressive feeling to the visual environment. It forced me to look more closely at the world around me, to find the disordered and organic beauty I was missing.

Being close to the equator the light changes little and the climate, for the most part, is the same year round (hot and humid). It is typical for there to be a massive thunderstorm in the afternoon dumping inches of water in a short time. As the island has been gradually paved over, the city has had to build deep ditches and other water ways to prevent urban flooding.

Inspired by Peter Cully’s “ramble photography” on Vancouver Island, I started taking my camera with me on my daily walk to the market, searching for images that would break up the visual monotony of my new environment. About two months into my stay, I took my first “ditchwater” photograph. Once I uploaded my “ramble photos” onto my computer, I saw the possibilities, the various forms and shades suggested other-worldly landscapes in their mix of water, leaves, trash, and petrochemical waste.

A majority of the photos were taken along a ditch that runs along the intersection where Clementi Avenue 4 and 5 join together. Most of them were taken in the morning around 9am. The ditch at this time of day is on the cusp of shadow and sun. The equatorial light that bleaches out vibrance of tropical colors at mid-day is at a low angle. I like to imagine this tension between sun and shadow picks up colors that at other times of day disappear.

The ditch was variable. Some days the photos would be lifeless, the colors, the forms would be drab and uninteresting and then others they would surprise and dazzle, suggesting a vast universe. I would often never know how the pictures would turn out, even with the preview on my digital camera, until I could see them on a larger screen The images presented here are digitally manipulated only by adjusting photographic levels tint, contrast, saturation, and temperature. I wanted to just amplify (or super amplify) the color contrast and richness of the images themselves.

P.I.S.O.R is currently working on arranging a selection of the 1,000+ ditchwater photographs for a photo book, forthcoming Fall 2024.