ROOTS – A Solo Exhibition by ND Chow

Before his relocation to Tokyo, Singapore-born ND Chow spent two years globe-trotting to discover the world and himself. This personal odyssey proved to be his turning point. 

A silent and reclusive lad then, he found his tongue in the visual vocabulary of images. Through the camera, ND learnt to speak to the world – and more. The sights, sounds, tastes, touch and emotions of the people he has met, and the places he has visited all over the world – they imprinted themselves upon ND’s life like the silver halides of film paper. Today 16 years later, he once again recovers these images from the darkroom of his mind’s eye. The roots that were subterranean then, has now become visible in his visual sensibilities, aesthetics, and philosophy as a successful portrait photographer — the realisation that every person he has ever captured through his lens are mirror reflections of him. Recently nominated for the 45th Kodansha Syuppan Bunka Award, his first photo-book ROOTS is not just a personal reflection of ND’s search for identity and the origin of his creativity, it is also the long delayed return ticket of a 16-year journey back to himself. Every time ND collapses a carefully composed persona of his subject to unveil the real within, he sees another sliver of his undiscovered self. ROOTS is not just a personal reflection of ND’s search for identity and the origin of his creativity, it is also the long delayed return ticket of a 16-year journey back to himself. 

Exhibition Date : 10 May to 14 June 2014
Venue : Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film