In his decade-spanning series Singapore, Nguan turns his camera on his native city and reimagines the adolescent nation as an iconic dream landscape.
The work examines themes of longing, discombobulation and regret, evoking the narrative complexity of daily Singaporean life while adhering to a meticulous palette of delicate hues. The resultant photographs are meant to seem disquieting yet naive and mythical but true.
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About the Artist
Nguan was born and raised in Singapore. His photographs are about big city yearning, ordinary fantasies and emotional globalisation.
He has published three books: Shibuya (2010), How Loneliness Goes (2013) and Singapore (2017), which was named in The New York Times Magazine as one of the best photo books of the year. His work is in the permanent collection of the Singapore Art Museum.