Bob Lee Keng Siang is a photojournalist with a keen interest in people; his appreciation of the ordinary and his striking sense of empathy have enabled him to transform images of everyday life into insightful photographs.
He has an acute sense for all things unusual. This trait — honed over five years as a news photographer with the Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao and one and half years at my paper Singapore’s first free chinese newspaper– is apparent in his work.
Bob’s images have caught the attention of many. His work was picked as the Gold Award in Best In Feature Photography in recent IFRA 2008 Asia Media Award, Best News Photo at 2008 SPH Chinese News Department Yearly Award and Top Jurors’ Choice in the Singapore Art Awards 2005.
During the “ClickArt: World Photojournalists Meet” held in Singapore in 2003, he beat 200 over top photojournalists from 32 countries to clinch the top award in the “Behind the Scenes” category.
Bob’s lens has illuminated numerous social issues that deserve our attention. In his most recent social documentary photographic exhibition ” One Room Flat” held in December 2004, he offered an intimate look at the grim living conditions of one-room flat elderly dwellers, reminding Singaporeans of this group of poor, forgotten elderly living right within our community.
The many facets of life of the Singapore heartlands fascinate him. Almost intuitively, he takes his camera to the streets, housing estates and eventually into the homes of his subjects, in an effort to capture the realities of life in their truest form.
In 2003, he trained his lens on two lesser-known communities in Singapore and produced a fascinating insight to the close-knit communities of the Sikhs and Jews. That was his first solo exhibition, entitled “Have a Little Faith”. It was sponsored by the Central Singapore Community Development Council and was exhibited in the Singapore History Museum .
He has since compiled selected works from the two abovementioned exhibitions and published two photography books.
Currently, other than his work as a photojournalist in my paper <> Singapore’s first free chinese newspaper, Bob is also lecturing part time at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts from 2005-2007, and also lecturing digital photography in both NgeeAnn Poly and Eggstory Academy since 2007. Source
His website: http://www.bobleeks.com/
