Page 4 - Darren Soh's Interview with Kanto_Neat

What learnings or insights about architecture have you gleaned from your years of documenting
it?

To be perfectly honest, I was never very interested in architecture before 2006, and I could not
name any important architects or associate any buildings with their architects. I guess you could
say that the large format camera and my subsequent love for making images of built structures
opened me to the world of architecture. And now here I am, some 14 years later, doing nothing BUT
architecture photography and very much a part of the architectural community here in Singapore.

The learning curve was steep, but you try and make up for lost time quickly as with everything
you feel for. One of the most obvious things I have learned is that urban redevelopment
happens in Singapore at a pace almost unheard of in the West and in many other parts of
the world, and before you know it, a building is gone for good and replaced by another.

How has your view changed before you decided to pick up a camera to shoot architecture?

I now have the utmost respect for architects and their work, as well as a much, much better
understanding of light. As an aspiring photojournalist, good natural light was simply a bonus
in the course of what I had to photograph for work. But as an architectural photographer,
good natural light makes or break your images. Because of this, I have taught myself how
to read light, not just at different times of the day but also at different times of the year.

What makes Singapore’s brand of post-war, modernist architecture interesting and distinct?

Let’s talk about post-independence architecture, which came about after 1965 when Singapore was
expunged from Malaysia. 1965 was a time of uncertainty for Singapore, as nobody really knew if
we would make it as a tiny island state that had been cut off from its former body. However, the
Housing Development Board (HDB), which was formed in 1960, took Singapore’s development very
seriously and initiated many, many projects and land sales to the private sector to raise money.

It was through the very first few government land sales that our amazing icons of modernism
such as the People’s Park Complex (1970), Golden Mile Complex (1974), and the now-
demolished Pearl Bank Apartments (1976) came into existence. These structures were special
because they were all designed by local Singaporean architects, many of whom had gone to
architecture school right here in Singapore. These buildings embodied the brave pioneering
spirit of a nascent country and proved to the world that Singapore would more than just make it.