Tan Lip Seng
Tan Lip Seng (simplified Chinese: 陈立诚; traditional Chinese: 陳立誠; 26 July 1942 – 29 April 2025) was a Singaporean photographer known for his slide photography, photomontage, and semi-abstract colour works. He received the Cultural Medallion in 1985 for his contributions to photography. He was also awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Fellowship (FRPS) in 1970 for colour photography, and received the Society's Fenton Medal in 1998.[1][2]
Career
[edit]Tan took up photography in his youth and later worked as a medical photographer at the University of Singapore. Alongside his professional work, he became known for his salon photography[3] and colour slide work.[1]
Tan developed from earlier black-and-white montage experiments into a distinctive colour practice involving layered transparencies and multiple exposures, producing semi-abstract images that became a hallmark of his style.[4]
He was a successful international salon exhibitor.[5] According to National Gallery Singapore, he was recognised as one of the Photographic Society of America's top ten colour slide exhibitors from 1969 to 1988, and his colour slides were accepted more than 6,000 times and won more than 1,000 awards at international salons between 1962 and 1997.[4]
Tan's work was included in major institutional presentations of Singapore and Southeast Asian photography. In 2022, The Straits Times reported that his award-winning works from 1965 to 1970 were featured in National Gallery Singapore's exhibition Living Pictures: Photography in Southeast Asia, describing them as prints of montages made from 35mm transparency slides and contact prints, sometimes with added colour layers.[6]
Death and legacy
[edit]Tan died on 29 April 2025 at the age of 82. His death was reported in Singapore's Chinese-language press, including Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Zaobao, which described him as a Cultural Medallion recipient and summarised his long career in photography, including his medical-photography work and his distinctive colour photographic style.[7][8]
Professional photography societies also published obituary notices after his death. The RPS Journal noted that Tan had served as the Royal Photographic Society's overseas representative for Singapore and had promoted the Society locally, while the PSA Journal highlighted his long service to the Photographic Society of America and his honours within the organisation.[9][10]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Tan Lip Seng". Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. National Library Board, Singapore. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
- ↑ "Fenton Medal". The Royal Photographic Society. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
- ↑ Zhuang, Wubin (2018). Shifting Currents: Glimpses of a Changing Nation. Marshall Cavendish Editions. p. 25. ISBN 978-981-4779-52-4.
- 1 2 Toh, Charmaine (10 July 2019). "Notes on Photography: Tan Lip Seng's Industrial Century". National Gallery Singapore. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
- ↑ The Photographic Journal: Official Organ of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and the Photographic Alliance. The Society. 1992.
- ↑ Hoe, Pei Shan (7 December 2022). "National Gallery Singapore's new show looks back at 150 years of photography in South-east Asia". The Straits Times. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
- ↑ "曾获上千奖项 我国文化奖得主 知名摄影家陈立诚癌逝". Shin Min Daily News (in Chinese). 30 April 2025. p. 6.
- ↑ "文化奖得主摄影家陈立诚病逝". Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). 30 April 2025.
- ↑ "Lip Seng Tan FRPS (1942–2025)". RPS Journal. 2025.
- ↑ "Passings: Tan Lip Seng, HonPSA, MPSA, EFIAP, FRPS". PSA Journal. 2025.