Tan Lip Seng: A Life In Colour
This exhibition celebrates the photographic legacy of the late Tan Lip Seng, one of Singapore’s most respected practitioners whose images captured the quiet rhythms, layered histories, and evolving landscapes of the nation. Tan Lip Seng: A Life in Colour aims to honour his lifelong commitment to photography, preserve his contributions to Singapore’s visual heritage, and make his work accessible to a broad and intergenerational audience.
Exhibition Programmes
Sat, 22 Aug, 230pm – 4pm
Seeing Through the Salon Lens: Photo Clubs in Singapore and Southeast Asia
Sharing by artist-curator Zhuang Wubin
Objectifs Annexe [RSVP here]
Sat, 22 Aug, 430pm – 630pm
Colour Montage Bookmark Workshop
As part of SaturLate
Objectifs Annexe [Sign up here]
Sat, 5 Sep, 2pm – 4pm
Intergenerational Photography Workshop
Conducted by Deanna Ng
Objectifs Annexe [RSVP here]
Sat, 26 Sep, 4pm – 530pm
On Tan Lip Seng’s Colour Derivation and Slide Photography
Sharing by photograph conservator Esther Ng
Objectifs Annexe [RSVP here]
Exhibition
Objectifs Chapel Gallery
Opening Reception
Sat 08/08/2026, 3pm – 5pm
Free Admission
Related Events
Various Programmes
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About the late Tan Lip Seng
Tan Lip Seng (1942–2025) was a Singaporean photographer known for his slide, travel, and photomontage work. Best known for his richly layered colour images of everyday life in Singapore and beyond, he pioneered colour-derivation techniques and gained international recognition. In 1970, he became the first Singaporean to be awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in the UK for his achievements with pictorial colour transparencies. He received the Singapore Cultural Medallion in 1985.
Visit his photo blog to view his blog posts.
About Profoto Digital Services
Founded in 1998, Profoto is a photographic printing lab and one of the leading total-solutions provider in retail-advertising, both locally and regionally, providing Digital Solutions, Marketing and Design & Build services, such as conceptualization, design, fabrication, visual merchandising, and more. Tan Lip Seng: A Life in Colour is supported by Profoto.
About the Guest Speakers & Instructor
Zhuang Wubin is a writer who makes photographs, publications and exhibitions. He is, most recently, the recipient of the British Academy Visiting Fellowship 2025 and the National Library Digital Fellowship 2023.
Deanna Ng is an independent photographer and passionate arts educator who holds a Specialist Diploma in Arts Education from Singapore’s National Institute of Education. Her photographic interests lie in documenting fragments of memory that can still be found in the rapidly changing urban landscape of Singapore. Deanna’s work is featured in the book Singapore Eye – Contemporary Singapore Art (2015), as well as the Land Transport Authority’s Arts in Transit programme, where her work is showcased at Beauty World MRT Station along the Thomson Line. In her classes, Deanna challenges students to discover their own voice in photography. She also believes that it is important that students practise the craft with an understanding of its artistic history.
Esther Ng is a senior paper and photograph conservator at Singapore’s National Heritage Board (NHB), where she has spent over two decades safeguarding the nation’s cultural heritage. Based at the Heritage Conservation Centre, she specialises in paper and photograph conservation, and has led conservation efforts spanning preventive care, exhibition support, and research. She holds a Master’s in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage – Photographic Materials from the University of Amsterdam. Esther is an active researcher and educator, having conducted photograph identification workshops for curators and collection managers across NHB institutions. She presented her research on Tan Lip Seng’s montaged colour transparency slides at the 2023 International Colour Photography and Film Conference, contributing to the growing body of knowledge on the conservation of colour photographic materials.