Above: Stuart Franklin for Magnum Photos.
To coincide with its 65th anniversary, Magnum Photos is exhibiting the work of three of its photographers at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. The exhibition, Outside In, features photojournalism by Stuart Franklin, Mark Power, and Jacob Aue Sobol, who is the newest addition to the photography collective. Visitors will find 143 works on display—the first time the trio’s work has been displayed in Asia.
UK-based Stuart Franklin, a former president of Magnum, is perhaps best known for his unforgettable photograph of a student standing tall in front of army tanks during the infamous 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Here, Franklin will be displaying his long-term project, Footprint: Our Landscape in Flux. The project aims to track both sides of the environmental changes taking place in Europe—from the effects of flooding, glacial melt, and pollution, to some of the more positive impacts, such as sustainable forestry in Scotland.
Mark Power is currently professor of photography at the University of Brighton in the UK. Sound of Two Songs is the result of five years (beginning in 2004 after Poland and nine other nations joined the European Union) spent shuffling back and forth between Poland and the UK to document the rapidly changing Polish society. The work combines portraiture and landscape seen through the eyes of a foreigner, a position Power says he “resolutely maintained throughout.”
“The title comes from a branch of philosophy that is best described as the sound of many melodies playing together, which not only creates an ungodly racket but also means that it’s impossible to hear any one tune clearly. Reading this some time ago it struck me that Poland looked like that sounded. In fact, of course, the project should be called the sound of many songs, but that’s not such a lyrical title.” Mark Power.
Magnum’s newest signing, Danish photographer, Jacob Aue Sobol, showcases a personal journey of life in Tokyo with his girlfriend. I, Tokyo is a compilation of 18 months in the capital.
“Initially I felt invisible. Each day I would walk the streets without anyone making eye-contact with me. Everyone seemed to be heading somewhere – it was as if they had no need of communication. Most mornings I would take the Chuo- line from Nakano to Shinjuku, and even though the train would be packed with salary-men and school girls in uniform, I rarely heard a word being spoken.” Jacob Aue Sobol.
Until January 16. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.. Last admission 9 p.m.. Tickets are available from the ArtScience Museum website at US$5 for adults and US$2 for children.
Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands; 65/6688-8868; marinabaysands.com/artsciencemuseum.
