Singapore photographer's pictures show day and night in a snap
New photo book features time-lapse composite images of various locations around Singapore
Many photographers know how tedious it can be to wait hours just to get a perfect shot.
For award-winning photographer Bryan van der Beek, it took up to 12 hours standing in the same spot just to get some of the shots he took for his new photo book, Transitions.
"It was a long process but I was lucky to have friends who came to visit and afforded me the opportunity for toilet breaks," said Mr van der Beek.
His book, released last Thursday, is a collection of pictures showing the stark differences of how a place looks at different times of the day.
It is also the 20th and last instalment of Twentyfifteen.sg - a series of photo books created by 20 different photographers on themes such as urban poverty in Singapore and people in the arts scene.
For Mr van der Beek, creating Transitions was a step out of his comfort zone.
He said: "My background is in documentary and photojournalism, and I do a lot of commercial, editorial as well as architectural and portrait work.
MASH UP
"Transitions is kind of a mash-up of some of these and one of the few times I actively went looking for interesting landscapes in Singapore to photograph.
"I'm used to capturing very specific and emotional moments and doing time-lapse and long exposure work is almost the polar opposite of that."
Mr van der Beek created the pictures by shooting over the times where the most changes would happen - between 5.30am and 9.30am, or between 4.30pm and 8.30pm.
He would then "keep a lookout for different focal points of interest on each side to photograph" before using Photoshop to merge the images together.
The result is a series of stunning time-lapse pictures taken at places such as Kranji Dam, Bishan Park and the Merlion Park.
The idea for Twentyfifteen.sg was mooted by Platform, a group of Singapore-based photographers.
Mr Tay Kay Chin, one of the founders of Platform and also a photographer who has been involved in the local photography scene for the past two decades, said: "I can't help noticing that the talents in this country don't always get the platform they deserve.
"We wanted to show the world a slice of Singapore dear to us and as photographers, I can't think of a better way to do it than to publish a series of books."
To buy a copy of Transitions by Mr van der Beek, visit twentyfifteen.myshopify.com. Each book costs $25.
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