ISLAND LIFE

"This idea started in November 2011 and we actually wanted to do a big-scale photo exhibition. Along the way, we changed it to a series of books," said local renowned photographer Tay Kay Chin.

Together with three other local photographers Darren Soh, Ernest Goh and Leonard Goh - he embarked on TwentyFifteen.sg. The initiative featured the works of 22 photographers in 20 photobooks, each comprising 15 images.

Explaining the reason behind the project, Mr Tay said: "When you have photographers who have lived here and care for Singapore beyond photography, what you will get is something very personal and real. If a foreign photographer is flown in for two weeks (to do a project on Singapore), he or she is not going to find the kind of stories that we do.

With a start-up fund of $12,000 from friends, the four photographers decided on a "pay-it-forward" scheme in which sales of the first book would fund the printing of the second book, and so on.

Capturing the old

With that, the first book was launched in August 2013. Titled For My Son by Mr Soh, the book consisted of photos of soon-to-be demolished local buildings that held special memories for Darren and his wife, and was specially compiled for their three-year-old.

"A lot of things are disappearing; a lot of HDB flats and old places are getting demolished," explained the 39-year-old. "If you look at the buildings in the book, about half don't exist anymore. How would we remember these old buildings if we don't photograph them properly?"

Remembering the brave

For Mr Tay, his book Made in Singapore was fifth in the series and it documented the journey of Mr Salim Javed, a foreign worker from Bangladesh who conceived his child in Singapore. Mr Tay first met him in 2009 when the latter was the site supervisor of the former's house renovation. The two became fast friends and he even attended Mr Javed's wedding in Bangladesh.

"I always wondered why these people have to leave their loved ones back at home to work in Singapore," said the 50-year-old.

"I made the effort to know them, tell their story and tell Singaporeans not to be snobbish. They are braver than us and are willing to make the sacrifice."

In other books, local photographer Lim Wei Xiang documented the Singapore coastline through a series of photos, while DEFU by Sam Chin and Samuel He captured images of the industrial estate of Defu and its sunset industries before change takes over.

Beyond SG50

Starting conversations and getting to know people did not come naturally and Mr Tay was grateful that his time in National Service (NS) shaped his experience in doing so.

"I grew up quite sheltered so NS was when I met all kinds of people. This taught me how to break the ice with my photography subjects."

For Mr Soh, the best memories of his NS days were the people he served with, and how it taught him to make the best out of every situation. "I think that if there's one takeaway from NS, it's that you find out who your friends really are when you're most tired, both mentally and physically."

It has been a long two-year journey but Mr Tay is not ruling out the possibility of a future project. "I'm sure when Singapore turns 60, we'll get excited again!"

As Mr Soh put it, "TwentyFifteen.sg is also a way of leaving a blueprint. Maybe at Singapore's 100th anniversary, somebody will look back and remember that there was this bunch of crazy people who did this book project, and read the stories behind the projects."

The final book will be printed later this year, but the project does not end there. An exhibition showcasing selected photos is currently held at the Esplanade and will run till 3 Jan next year.