Local photographer Chris Sim — also known on the gram as @zalindrome — reveals his body of retro-tinted work, one that celebrates his subjects’ comfort in their own skin.
This image of Chris was shot by Jilian Loe.
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The theme of this month’s issue is “Self-Love” which coincidentally, seems to match the people you lens — everybody seems comfortable in their own skin.
Self-love is something people struggle with, I know I do. It’s not a concept I grew up with. At what point does practising self-love and self-care cross the line and turns into selfishness? I can’t tell you. So I’ve been drawn towards documenting people and groups who look like they relish being in their own skin.
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Self-assuredness is alluring because it feels like a taboo in a world that assigns you value based on your productivity.
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Do you gravitate towards a certain subject?
Not consciously; no. I’ll elaborate on this in my answer to another question but generally for my personal work, I stick to photographing the people around me. Cameras are invasive things, which makes the relationship between photographer and subject so delicate.
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It’s better if that relationship is one of trust and mutual respect.
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Your photos have this electrifying current of youthful energy, would you say it is something you pursue in every frame?
Youthfulness encompasses a bunch of qualities, right? Fervour, exuberance, excitement. When I saw Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra, I thought they were all of that and more. Mr. Allen is 96 years old!
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So to answer your question in a roundabout way, I do look out for these things when making photographs.
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What inspires you and how does it come through in a photo? Is there a recurring theme or motif that appears?
I like looking at transitional moments in mundane places and situations, moments where there are small lapses in someone’s “outside face”. A recurring comment I receive about my work is how diaristic it feels. I hope people understand that this approach is intentional.
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Polished visuals have their place, but looking at poreless skin and sculpted hair, I get very uncomfortable. There’s this passive sense of exclusion, like you’ve built a world that I’m only privy to as a distant onlooker. Maybe that speaks to my relationship with self-love?
Diaristic photography tends not to communicate the entire narrative through a singular image; it’s the grouping of images that brings out the narrative. Every image in a given series provides context for one another.
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To that end, throughout my personal output and commercial projects that allow me more creative freedom, I try very hard to create an atmosphere of affinity. Not necessarily a welcoming or categorical sort of familiarity, more of an “oh! We’re suffering through this together, I see you”.
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What is a dream project for you? Is there a narrative you would like to explore?
I have a lifelong obsession with the genre of fiction — specifically cosmic horror and hard sci-fi — where tone and narrative elements are established for the purpose of subverting expectations and creating ambiguity. Writers use genre trappings to examine things that can seem pedestrian if presented as-is.
Shane Carruth’s Primer takes a deeply engrossing look into the breakdown of a professional relationship after the characters invent a time machine by accident. Who cares if you have beef with a colleague? They went on holiday so you have to shoulder their workload? Pour sugar on their keyboard while they’re gone.
But if you’re fighting over the ethics of time travel? Better give me all the receipts.
I would love to start making films. Maybe you’ll see something from me about the effects human cloning has on conscription. Maybe.
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Can you put together a small playlist of five songs that reflect your work?
Two years ago, there was actually this thing I was doing with Kin Leonn (lauded worldwide as Singapore’s ambient boy) where he responded to my work with his own medium, and we hoped to include other artists working with other mediums. It didn’t go very far because of my poor project management skills then, but Kin did end up finishing a 23-minute EP named tender tapes, which I’ve shed tears to privately. I hope to release it with him in some form one day, we’ll see.
Anyway, here’s some music I’ve been playing lately that hopefully enriches the experience of looking at my work.
1) Sea, Swallow Me – Cocteau Twins, Harold Budd
2) It Never Entered My Mind – Miles Davis Quintet
3) Take It In – Pleasantry
4) No Time – Dehd
5) Fakboi – Ocan Siagan
This story about Chris Sim aka Zalindrome first appeared in our February 2021 issue.
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