here Mummy's
The scene made Mr Benedict Teo think of how he should love his children.
While taking photos of his two daughters playing at the Science Centre's WaterWorks playground two Saturdays ago, Mr Teo was touched by how a mother took care of her daughter.
Water had got into the child's eye, but instead of simply wiping it off, she kissed the child and hugged her.
Mr Teo, a 41-year-old school counsellor at the Ministry of Education, captured the moment and sent in the photo for last week's Big Picture contest theme Heart.
He felt it best portrayed an image of love in Singapore.
"It captured my heart and I thought the theme Heart is not only about Valentine's Day, but also looking at love between a mother and her child," he said. Mr Teo's photo was the winner of last week's Big Picture, a year-long contest organised by The New Paper and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to encourage Singaporeans to document everyday life in the city.
Although the three judges last week each picked a different winner, Mr Teo walked away with the weekly $500 prize as his photo received the most votes.
STRAIGHTFORWARD
Judge Hedy Khoo, who picked the photo as the best, said: "This picture is straightforward, but it captures the love of a mother in that one snapshot."
Also impressed by the simple but effective photo was judge Zinkie Aw. "The canvas is largely framed with water droplets from the context of the fountain, but our attention is drawn to the body language of the mother cupping her hands around her smaller face," she said.
"The content and framing both suggest a child being safe in a crazy world, as she has warmth in her mum's embrace."
However, the photo was only her runner-up. Her winner was a photo of Mr Arsad Abdullah praying at the grave of his wife during Hari Raya Aidilfitri last year. The judge said this photo by Mr Lim Weixiang, which is up on the Big Picture website along with other finalists, reminded her of a family portrait.
This week's third judge, Zakaria Zainal, also picked a different winner. He went for a photo by Mr Zeng Liwei of a couple sitting inside an MRT train carriage.
"I like how it took some time for viewers to search for the intimate moment of the photograph here amidst the clutter and chaos of the subway," he said.
Valentine's Day...also love between a mother and her child.
- The Big Picture winner Benedict Teo
THE JUDGES
Zakaria Zainal, 29, focuses on documentary projects that show the changing face of Asia. His recent work on retired Singapore Gurkhas, an anthology of portraits and anecdotes, has been published into a book, "Our Gurkhas: Singapore Through Their Eyes".
Zinkie Aw, 28, is interested in recording culture visually. Besides conceptual photography, she also leads street photography outings at Canon Imaging Academy and enjoys shooting events. She graduated from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.
Hedy Khoo is a camera-carrying correspondent and food columnist with The New Paper. She started out as a photojournalist and today, she shoots and writes news features, helming two food columns - Hed Chef in The New Paper on Sunday and Food For Thought in M.
WHAT'S NEXT
This week only: Send us photos of what happens "On the Streets" of Singapore and stand to win $500! The deadline is Thursday, 11.59pm.
From Friday, we celebrate this year's Singapore World Water Day (www.singaporeworldwaterday.com) with the fortnight-long contest theme, "Make Every Drop Count!"
Show us what water means to this city and how we can make sure this precious resource is available for years to come. The weekly prize money is doubled to $1,000, thanks to PUB, the national water agency.
Visit tnp.sg/thebigpicture for full terms and conditions. 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.
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