ST review

A whimsical wisp of a book, LIGHT IS LIKE WATER is like the anti-coffee table book - its pictures and text evoke an unvarnished everyday world that becomes accidentally poetic in unguarded moments.

Created by Singaporeans Jasmine Seah and Jennifer Koh, the book features poetry by the former and photographs by the latter.

The visuals, of which many are casual polaroids, are wistful, evocative and often romantic. Clear summer skies and grainy void decks; rolling English fields and Singaporean bougainvillea blooming on overhead bridges - both the local and the foreign are captured with a dreamy tenderness.

Seah's poetry is inspired by Koh's pictures, and their sensibilities fit together well.
In the poem titled Leaving, for instance, the mood is both curious and contemplative: "I noticed for the first time / the grave latitude of trees / persisting in the fading light".

Throughout the book, there is a sense of both the photographer and the poet searching for ways to capture new worlds, and their sense of wonder is a quietly thrilling thing.

Review by Hong Xinyi, Straits Times, 1 Apr 2007

ST report

Labour of Light
By June Cheong - Apr 05, 2007 The Straits Times

A SINGAPOREAN poet and photographer who plan to donate proceeds from their first book to a non-profit charity called Kids With Cameras are now giving the public a chance to see their works for free.

The duo, poet Jasmine Seah, 24, and photographer Jennifer Koh, 23, have launched an exhibition of their work from their book, Light Is Like Water.

The show, named after the book, is on now, and features more than 50 photographs and 31 poems from the 72-page tome which was launched in January.

The duo have sold 300 copies of their book and they plan to donate all their royalties, which amount to $1.20 per book.

Seah says: 'We hope to donate to a charity like Kids With Cameras. The thrill of photography is something which is very accessible to young people.'

Kids With Cameras teaches photography to marginalised children around the world.

Seah and Koh add that they want to inspire young people to express themselves creatively.

Indeed, their own work, whether in words or images, captures prosaic moments of everyday life and celebrates them. For example, a Polaroid photograph of potted flowers on an overhead bridge is accompanied by a short poem entitled Flowers which wryly comments that 'the urban landscape/offers little/by way of botany'.

The project was initiated last June when Koh handed more than 50 photographs - a mishmash of Polaroid snapshots, Holga (a toy camera) shots and normal photographic prints - to Seah. Then Seah would sit and 'stare at them for many hours', searching for the right words evocative of the pictures.

After she had written seven poems, the duo approached Koh's aunt, Ms Chan Wai Han, who is the publishing manager of local independent publishing house, Ethos Books. She liked the concept of juxtaposing poetry with photographs and agreed to publish a book.



FEEL OF WORK: The duo, poet Jasmine Seah (left) and photographer Jennifer Koh (right) are exhibiting their work to help marginalised children.

Seah then spent another five months creating and refining the other 24 poems while Koh busied herself with editing her photographs and conceptualising the layout.

Asked if familial relation played a part in the publishing process, Ms Chan, 50, says: 'Jennifer came to us as we're related, but we would not have published the book if it did not merit it. There was always a professional consideration.'

In addition to work from the book, the exhibition also has a wall showcasing Polaroid photographs from Seah and new photographs by Koh. Seah revealed that she picked up an interest in photography while working with the latter.

With their first book out, the duo are setting their sights on another collaboration. They are already collecting material for either a new book or exhibition.

While Seah carries a black notebook crammed with random musings and Polaroid shots everywhere she goes, laboriously taking notes of places and people she has seen, Koh lugs a camera around.

Seah is also writing a children's book which is scheduled for publication this Christmas and the pair are also working on another project together, although they declined to divulge further information.

'We hope to do something experimental in the way of representing a place, although we hesitate to call it a travelogue,' they say.

For now though, their day jobs as teachers keep their flights of fancy bound to the cityscape of Singapore. Seah and Koh teach at National Junior College and Raffles Institution respectively.

Asked to pick a spot in Singapore she loves and would commemorate in art, Seah says: 'Arab Street, especially when it rains. I like that it's cluttered.'

Koh replies: 'A clear, unhindered stretch of sea, where I don't see too many ships, would make me feel good.'

Light Is Like Water is at the Print Gallery of The Arts House from today till April 22. Admission is free and opening hours are 10am to 8pm, Mondays to Fridays, and 11am to 8pm on Saturdays. Seah and Koh's book of the same name retails for $21 at major book stores.