Monkey business

It was the first time she was visiting River Safari.

Together with a group of photography enthusiasts, Madam Tay Kim Suan was taking photos at the attraction when they were drawn to some monkeys resting on railings.

When one of her friends squatted down to take a close-up shot, a monkey moved forward and stuck its head into the lens.

Madam Tay noticed this and immediately snapped a picture.

"It was such an amazing moment," the secretary said. "Its fingers were clasping the lens hood, almost like it was mimicking my friend's actions."

For last week's Big Picture contest judges, the whimsical photograph stood out from other submissions for the theme Wild Singapore.

And two of the three judges picked it as their winner.

The Big Picture is a year-long contest organised by The New Paper and the Ministry of Culture, Communication and Youth to encourage Singaporeans to document everyday life.

Madam Tay was awarded the weekly prize of $500 for her submission.

LUCKY

Judge Gary Goh said Madam Tay was lucky to have captured the moment as the monkey peeked into the camera lens. He said: "It was as if the monkey was looking at the photographer through the camera."

Another judge, Mr Gavin Foo, added that in an urban environment like Singapore's, this is as "close" to nature as you can get.

Madam Tay was surprised by the win. She said: "I don't normally take photos of wildlife as I don't have the proper zoom lens."

Her entry was shot with a 24-105mm lens.

Madam Tay said that when she posted the photograph on her Facebook account, it received many likes, as many friends found it amusing.

Judge Lim Weixiang was also tickled by it.

He said: "(The photograph) is a humourous shot and it stands out from the others because there is human interaction, which is in line with the Singapore part of the theme."

However, his pick for the winner was Mr Ng Guan Shyh's photo of a butterfly resting on his son's finger.

"It's a lovely moment that reminds me of my childhood and a 'wilder Singapore' when we would catch crickets and make spiders duel," he said.

To see the judges' other choices and last week's finalists, visit The Big Picture website at http://tnp.sg/TheBigPicture

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It was as if the monkey was looking back at the photographer through the camera.

- Judge Gary Goh on the winning entry

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THIS WEEK'S JUDGES

Lim Weixiang, 32, is a Singapore-based photographer and visual artist. His works have been featured in the Angkor Photo Festival and at the National Museum of Singapore. A mentee of celebrated visual artist John Clang, Mr Lim recently released his first photo book, Our Coastline, as part of the Twentyfifteen.sg initiative.

Gary Goh, 26, is one of the youngest in The New Paper's team of photojournalists. While journalism is something he loves, he prefers to tell stories with pictures rather then words. The self-professed news junkie joined the paper after graduating from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, with a bachelors in communication in 2012.

Gavin Foo, 34, first picked up a camera in 2003 and has been a photojournalist with The New Paper since 2006. The graduate of Nanyang Technological University's School of Computer Engineering believes that without passion, photographs taken will have no emotion.

For more works by the TNP photo desk, visit http://backstage.tnp.sg and @tnpbackstage on Instagram.


WHAT'S NEXT


This fortnight, the big picture contest looks at the industrial and manufacturing sectors which play an important role in singapore's economy, so send us photos related to the theme, made in singapore.

The deadline each week is Thursday, 11.59pm.

Visit tnp.sg/thebigpicture for terms and conditions of the contest.

Join our Facebook page, facebook.com/TheBigPictureContest, to find out the latest contest details and to see the photos of each week's finalists and winners.