This slideshow, curated by Chelsea Chua and Lim Ming Rui of Objectifs (Singapore), gives a glimpse into the issues and modes of image-making that preoccupy artists in Southeast Asia today. Featuring recent projects by five past recipients of the Objectifs Documentary Award, it offers a vital window into contemporary photography from the region.
Total Runtime: 26mins 35 secs
Featured Artists
Kaleb Sitompul – To Bless the Motherland (2025) (10:01min)
Project Statement
The Natinggir Forest Indigenous Community, a Batak tribe in North Sumatra, has lived in harmony with their land for over 300 years. Facing threats from industrial eucalyptus plantations, they resist through land restoration and advocacy, striving to protect their ancestral forest, culture, and livelihoods for future generations.
Artist Bio
Kaleb Sitompul is a visual storyteller from Indonesia working in film and photography. He studied filmmaking at the Jakarta Institute of Arts and honed his narrative approach with Pannafoto Institute and VII Academy. Since 2021, his work has focused on stories and social issues beyond Java’s urban centers. He received the Objectifs Documentary Award (Emerging) in 2023.
© Kaleb Sitompul
Mai Nguyên Anh – The Patriot Playbook (4:57min)
Project Statement
This project traces Ho Chi Minh monuments amid controversies and state investments. Driven by curiosity about rising nationalism versus grassroots sentiments, I travelled across the country to capture moments, blending propaganda with personal encounters. The work maps an evolving political/cultural identity, but also reveals love for a country beyond ideology.
Artist Bio
Mai Nguyên Anh is a Vietnamese artist whose work blends observational and poetic documentary approaches to explore personal and social paradoxes. As curator of PhotoHanoi and co-founder of Matca, he deepens his practice by creating spaces that invite reflection, spark creative dialogue, and contribute to the evolving landscape of contemporary photography in Vietnam. Mai received the Objectifs Documentary Award (Open) in 2018.
© Mai Nguyên Anh
Lê Nguyên Phương - Giao Điểm (Intersection) (3:20min)
Project Statement
Giao Điểm was made in eight days in 2024, during a trip to Siem Reap with my father. He spent four days with me before leaving back to Vietnam for his work. A day later, my lover came to visit me without him knowing. The work explores my father's story, and the secrets within.
Artist Bio
Lê Nguyên Phương (or Phuong Nguyen Le in Western naming convention) (b. 2002, Ha Noi) is an emerging Vietnamese photographer, artist, and researcher. His works focus on themes of collective identity, community, and family in the aftermath of the American War in Vietnam. Phương received the Objectifs Documentary Award (Emerging) in 2023.
© Lê Nguyên Phương
Sarah Isabelle Tan - Do you remember the colour of the sky that day (II) (5:01min)
Project Statement
Do you remember the colour of the sky that day (II) is an encounter with images composed of Super 8 footage and damaged negatives shot and collected over five years. Scratches, stains, and chemical traces reveal distortion rather than clarity, embracing fragments of memory suspended between visibility and loss. I narrate parts of imagined and real stories, mirroring my broader practice of exploring how presence delicately persists at thresholds of visibility, and is revealed in the act of holding, carrying, sustaining.
Artist Bio
Sarah Isabelle Tan is an artist and researcher based between London and Singapore. Her practice engages with writing and a post-medium framework that approaches the image not as representation, but through material sensitivity and embodied processes. She is currently undertaking a Masters of Research at the Royal College of Art, and was a recipient of the Objectifs Documentary Award in 2020 (Emerging).
© Sarah Isabelle Tan
Shwe Wutt Hmon - When The Curtain Falls (3:14min)
Project Statement
When The Curtain Falls is about finding and building connections between myself, photo studio spaces that I love so much, and the people who protect these memorable places, as a way to counter my fear that these photo studios will soon vanish in a not-so-distant-future.
Artist Bio
Shwe Wutt Hmon is a photographer and mixed media artist from Myanmar, currently based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Shwe’s work focuses on collective histories, familial ties, relationships, and exploring the inner psyche through intimate storytelling about people and places dear to her heart. She received the Objectifs Documentary Award (Open) in 2020.
© Shwe Wutt Hmon
𝑬𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
📍 Gallery Conceal Shibuya
📅 October 01–12, 11:00-20:00
🎟️ Entrance: Free