Institutionalised Care
January 6, 2021
Say something about yourself?
I use photography to communicate my thoughts
What is this series?
It’s about photographing death and I used the hospital as the metaphor of the human’s life. The series started in a maternity department, then to the pediatric department, then to the various department a hospital have before ending back at the maternity department. the sense of loss in the photographs was portrayed in the empty beds and the lack of people.
How/When did you start this series?
I did this series during my MA Degree. The series started as an opportunity to visit the hospital as a tourist, not as a patient or a visitor (visiting other patients). I spent 2 years photographing various hospitals and clinics in Malaysia (mostly in Kuala Lumpur)
What message do you want to tell the audience?
I don’t think there is any messages in this series that I would like to tell the audience. My grandma passed away while I was half way working on this series and it made me look at the hospital differently. I guess this series is a way for me to say goodbye to her because this series, it’s about the fragility of the human being and how the empty beds and cold interior of the hospital sort of reminds me of my loss.
Any news or updates?
I am working on my solo exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. It will be in August 2018. This is going to be my 2nd solo exhibition in Kuala Lumpur after the one I did back in 2012. I have done various solo exhibition in other countries in between.
Eiffel Chong graduated with an MA in International Contemporary Art and Design Practice from the University of East London and a BA (Hons) in Photography from London College of Printing. He was an award-winning photographer and has been featured in many exhibitions in Malaysia and around the world.
AugustMan Magazine in Malaysia recently awarded him The Man Of The Year 2016, Art Category and he had also won the 2nd Prize in Category D for the Nikon Photo Contest 2014–2015, Japan. He was also one of the finalists for the Asia-Pacific Photobook Award 2015, Australia and Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2014, Hong Kong and he have been nominated three times for the Prix Pictet. The exhibitions that he was involved are‘After Image: Contemporary Photography From Southeast Asia’, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore; ‘Others & Me: Contemporary Photography Exhibition’, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE; and ‘Malaysian Eye’, Whitebox Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Eiffel Chong’s work considers abstract concepts of life and death through the banal details, silent landscapes and curious obsessions he observes from daily life. He is interested in how the photographic medium can translate a particular time and space, memories and thoughts into something permanent. He personally thinks that the images say more with less, and makes one just want to stare and think about it.
More of his work can be viewed on https://www.eiffelchong.com
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