A splash of CBD life

Working in the Central Business District, Mr Neo Chee Wei developed a curiosity for the everyday life in Singapore's bustling financial centre.

A year ago, the financial consultant began spending time after work roaming the district photographing fellow office workers out on the streets, along with any other interesting sights he came across.

He was rewarded on a rainy day last December. Mr Neo noticed a reflection of office towers in a water puddle outside Clifford Centre, and waited for something to happen.

Ten minutes later, he captured this shot of a worker avoiding the puddle by jumping on the seats outside Raffles Place MRT and his reflection was captured in the puddle.

The 35-year-old submitted his creative shot for last week's Big Picture contest. The theme was High & Low, which sought a different perspective of Singapore.

While he normally does not favour inverted pictures, Mr Neo said he thought this particular shot had colours which matched quite well.

"All these elements, including the man in full stride, made it interesting," he said.

PATIENCE

Last week's Big Picture judges agreed.

They picked Mr Neo's photo to win the $500 prize of this year-long competition organised by The New Paper and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to encourage Singaporeans to document everyday life in the city.

Mr Stefen Chow praised the photographer for his patience and determination.

"I like the perspective of the business district (shot) in this manner, and the moment is nicely captured," he said.

Mr Tay Kay Chin also picked the photo to win because it encouraged him to reflect.

"I like the composition even though it is rather cliched. The intensity of the colour and the overall darkness of the image resonated with my feelings for the week," he said.

Last week's third judge, Mr Zakaria Zainal, had a different winner in mind. He was most impressed by Mr Yasin Rahim's black-and-white picture of the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark shrouded in a fog.

"There is an air of mystery with this photograph," he said. "You wonder what lies behind."

To see the photographs taken by last week's other finalists, visit The Big Picture's website at www2.tnp.sg/TheBigPicture.

tnp@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Mar 31, 2015.
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