Posts in ‘Uncategorized’

Chances are you already know Chen Man, or at least have seen her work before. Born in Beijing, she went to high school at the Central Academy of Drama, and graduated college from Central Academy of Fine Arts in China.
At first, she focused on painting and sculpture but was soon drawn to the photography industry where she gained worldwide recognition with her stunning fashion photos.

Chen Man came to Paris last month for a photo shoot and was nice enough to spend some time with eYeka to discuss her work, creativity and share pieces of advice for the eYeka Community. Here’s the interview the Chen Man. Enjoy!

Chen Man

eYeka: You once said that the most important thing in photography is the “idea”, not the technology. You don’t need a good camera to get a nice photo, but your “creative consciousness”. Can you share with us more about this?

Chen Man: First of all, be yourself. You must be true to yourself and know what you want. Secondly, I think the “idea” is the most important part. You must let others know what you’re trying to express. Then, and only then, your photography toolkit comes into play.

Photography by Chen Man

eYeka: You have developed your own style in photography, and because of your success, some photographers are trying to copy your style. What do you think of that? Do you think modeling one’s style is also one of the ways to learn and to improve in photography?

Chen Man: Others have copied me since long ago. I think it’s a good recognition and it’s essential for me to be acknowledged as a photographer. Just like how I have a lot of followers on my Weibo, being copied is a foundation to build your own market.
I don’t really care being copied by the others as there are really no rules for taking great pictures, just resilience and hard work. In fact, I have always believed that as long as you keep on going and constantly innovate, no one can surpass you. Take a look at Lady Gaga. There are lots of people trying to imitate her, but she is still the top one. So be sure about yourself, never give up, and your talent will show!

Photography by Chen Man

eYeka: Can you share with us where does your inspiration usually come from?

Chen Man:  Basically my inspiration comes from life, my own life and that of people around me. I like to observe every single detail in my life and build on it. I feel like it is so colorful and there are simply too many things I want to express.   I don’t need to force myself to find inspiration, my work is influenced by the world we live in which is why it is complex. Right now for instance I focus on traditional Chinese philosophy, which I love, and how it applies to our modern world. In a way I try to mix the millenarian Chinese culture “hardware” with the Western culture “software”.

“RISE AND SHINE”  Photography by Chen Man

eYeka: Thank you, Chen! Last question, do you have any suggestions for our eYeka community?

Chen Man: I specially want to emphasize about plagiarism issue. Some creators may be unhappy if someone else copied their works. I feel ashamed as well that in my country, China, there’s no special law or regulations to protect and enforce the copyrights.
I want to say to your creators that I am experiencing the same thing as they do. However, deep down it should not be a concern. As long as you keep on improving yourself and bring forth new ideas, others will not overtake you. A professional once told me that: “You have been copied for long, but you have never been overtaken.” This would be my advice to your Community!

Thanks again Chen Man for the advice to eYeka community! If you want to know more about her or her works, check out her website here
If you want to put her tips into action, don’t hesitate to jump in one of our contests!

Who likes ice cream? *raise hands*

Well, we certainly do! Ice cream always brings us happiness every time we scoop those heavenly creamy tasty stuffs into our mouth. Yummy!

Talking about ice cream, you can never forget Cold Stone Creamery. If it has anything to do with ice cream, it has everything to do with Cold Stone Creamery! From unique ice cream creations (which they named it Creations ™), to smoothies, cakes, and velvety shakes – nobody serves up the ultimate indulgence like Cold Stone. And with more than 11.5 million possible creations you can make, you will never get bored of their creations!

Cold Stone Creamery ice cream is categorized by industry experts as “Super Premium” because they make it fresh everyday in every store, using only the highest quality ingredients which puts Cold Stone completely in a class of its’ own. The unique selling point of Cold Stone, besides their premium quality ice cream, is the way they prepare your choice of custom creation on a frozen granite stone with the signature process by throwing the ice cream, mixing them with spades, etc.

In conjunction with the opening of the first Cold Stone Creamery store in Singapore, they are now inviting you, our creative creators, to share with us on how ice cream brings happiness to your life through a (maximum) 60-second video or animation.

Sounds like fun? We think so too!
And here’s the reward for the ice cream lovers:

• Grand Prize : SGD 5,000
• First Runner Up : SGD 2,500
• Second Runner Up : SGD 1,500
• Most Voted : SGD 1,000

Moreover, winners will be featured with credits on Cold Stone Creamery Singapore’s website, online social media platform(s) and may be used for other commercial purposes.

Cold Stone “How ice cream brings happiness to your life?” will be running from 19th January 2011 – 28 February 2011. Voting period will be on 4th – 10th March 2011.

Cold Stone Creamery Singapore’s Grand Opening will be on 12th March 2011. To learn more about the Cold Stone experience, please visit Cold Stone Creamery’s website or Cold Stone Creamery Singapore’s Facebook page for more information on Cold Stone.

For addition, watch this video to get a clearer idea on what Cold Stone do:

So get your gears ready, start the camera rolling, and don’t forget to grab some ice cream!
Click here to participate!

Good luck!
Amelia and Xuan

Several months ago, eYeka launched a call for entries searching for the region’s “Most Promising New Media Creative in Asia Pacific“. New and existing eYeka members were invited to share their best creations, and among the countless submissions received, one man reigned supreme!

The award ceremony, attended by the who’s who in the advertising industry, was held two weeks ago at the Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore.

It was a very special evening for all of us at eYeka because one of our community members was recognized for his talent (and deservingly so)! Jing Quek (jing), a professional photographer who also likes to dabble with filmmaking, took home the top plum for his very entertaining Running Across Singapore in 30 Seconds video created for Coke Zero’s “Impossible is Possible” competition. Although Jing did not win the initial Coke Zero competition, he’s a living proof that second time’s a charm when his entry was entered into the Hall of Fame CFE months later.

The runners up were:

• Hymn Wong (Hong Kong)
• Natra Mohsin (Singapore)
• Ronald Fong, Lee Yong Ti, Tan Zi Chao (Singapore)

Apart from the gorgeous Hall of Fame trophy (see below), Jing also rcceived a return trip ticket to Singapore, hotel accomodation and US$5,000. Good stuff!

Here are some pictures from the event:

^{The cocktail reception attended by the Advertising industry’s creme de la creme.}

^{The grand ballroom!}

^{eYeka member Jing Quek, receiving the first ever “Most Promising New Media Creative in Asia Pacific Award”. Congratulations!}

^{The beautiful (and heavy) Hall of Fame trophy!}

At eYeka, we are serious about giving our community members a chance to shine and get recognized! Congrats Jing!

This creative 22-year-old from Vietnam dabbles with graphic design and animation. Asked to describe his work, here’s what he has to say: “I love to let my designs violate the rule of prosody and never let an idea be purely an idea. I bring it to real life somehow no matter what the kind of idea is.”

With an amazing talent and an attitude worthy of admiration, he is certainly among the league of Eyeka talents to watch out for.

Plivia Alaba (flipztr)
Photographer

This cross-disciplinary artist from the Philippines sees the world as a playground that enables her to live her life to the fullest. “Art is a reflection of the world as I see it,” she says before adding “nothing satisfies me more than sharing it with other people.”

With an artistic style as colorful as her personality, her works, particularly her designs can brighten up any one’s day.

–

If you or a friend would like to be featured next month, nominate him or her by sending us an email at: community.asia(at)eyeka.com

It’s been a long, fun journey for the 9 finalists who were flown to Club Med Bali months ago to participate in the Bali Discover Photography Challenge.

After careful deliberation, the jury has selected Ng Choo Kia from Malaysia as Club Med’s official photographer, winning the USD10,000 contract!

The public’s voice was also heard through the People’s Choice award which was awarded to Evangeline Li of China who received a whopping 17,000 votes.

Congratulations to the winners! You can find out more about this campaign by clicking here!

It was all a bit hard to believe that I’d won a photography competition and was going to be flown to Club Med Bali at Nusa Dua. I was going to compete against eight other photographers from the Asia Pacific region. The prize an assignment with Club Med worth $10,000.

The Bali Photography Challenge turned out to be one of the best experiences/holidays I could imagine.

It was fantastic meeting the other photographers. It is sort of hard to explain but spending four days together with photographers with the same obsession and love of photography was amazing.

The organizers were great. So much to do every day and they seemed to make the challenges flow with ease. I’m guessing they didn’t sleep much!

It was a photography competition but it didn¹t feel like it. During an interview with Jaymee she asked me if photographers were competitive and I said: Of course, I thought about this later and realized that we are but most with ourselves. I saw the same drive in the other photographers.

The challenges were fun but I found after an hour or two of photography I had to stop, download my photos and review what I had taken. One day I even had a short sleep before getting back in the mood to take photographs! I think the whole Club Med experience was getting to me. I wanted to relax like everyone else at the club!!!

I did find it a challenge to shoot and post process in one day as I would normally remove myself emotional from the photos for a couple of days before post processing. I think this helps me to be more objective with what to keep and how I process the final images. I heard the same from other photographers. It really was a challenge!

I was happy with my photos most days. I got a little carried away with Lightroom on the final day but that happens sometimes! I learnt so much from the other photographers. I loved the way we shared our gear and ideas with each other.

Club Med Bali was beautiful with its lust green grass, palm trees and beach front location. The food was something else! So much food and so many dishes to chose from! I loved the food!

Bali was wonderful. I found everyone so friendly and relaxed. I loved the coastal temples, the beaches and the mountains. It really is paradise.The organizers of the competition, the Club Med staff and the photographers were all a fantastic bunch of people. Hopefully I will cross paths again with them all one day.

Now all I want to do is go and have a holiday at Club Med Bali !

John

Located in the southern hemisphere and near the equator, Bali doesn’t only have the beaches, the clear sea and the tropical sunshine. This little island also has a unique style of traditional painting and sculpture which inspire countless contemporary artists. From May 27 to June 2, together with another eight outstanding photographers, I attended the ClubMed Photo Challenge sponsored by the world’s largest tourist resort group Club Med.

In one week, we had three official challenges and one bonus challenge. The various themes covered the resort facilities, services, activities inside ClubMed Bali and also the scenery outside. To avoid the situation that all the contestants rush the same subject, each photographer had different photographic themes determined by lot. The hard thing in the competition was that you could not shoot the face (or you can make the face unrecognizable, haha). Besides, the time was also very tight. It took less than eight hours to shoot, to pick the best 10 pictures and to edit them. Therefore, a lot of people envy me for my one week in Bali, but the time when I was really relaxed to appreciate Bali was very little. Everyday I must get myself out of the casual and comfort state, break the unusual rhythm of work and constantly try something new. I am not boring at it at all; this is just what attracts people in photography.

During the week-long challenge in Bali, I had the photo competition and the interviews as scheduled, as well as the beautiful scenery and delicious food in ClubMed, and most importantly those nice photographers and enthusiastic staff. All of these made this competition not a photo contest, but the most impressive party for photographers all over Asia.

Nine photographers from 8 countries, having different cultural backgrounds and professional backgrounds, were in face of a variety of photographic themes within seven days. We challenged the limits of our strength and the time; we tried our best to find different perspectives to express what we experienced. However, all of these efforts are not for the final championship, but for the love of photography.Even though it has been a month to see off everybody in Bali, I still cherish the moment when we handed in the photos and shared the stories together. It feels like all of us are good friends known each other for years. With all these fantastic guys around, I can even feel the potential energy being encouraged and inspired day by dayJ It can be considered as the additional bonus besides the contest.

After coming back from Bali, many friends asked me about the greatest feeling of the trip. I think it should be an open mind. Take photography and me for example, two years ago I started using a digital camera to record the small moments of ordinary life and have been sharing the photos as the amateur recorder. I always believe that people who are equipped with SLR are truly professional. When I was invited by ClubMed, I was so surprised. When talked this with the players and the organizers, they told me that with such a high popularity of cameras, everyone is a photographer. The photographic perspectives are unique for everyone. It is not related to the advantages of equipments or the high photography techniques. It is the free heart that matters much in photography.

Haha, I have been talking so much… if you are patient enough to read them all, now pick up your camera and be your own photographer!! Maybe it is you who will attend the next photo contest organized by Eyeka!

“My Club Med Photo Challenge Experience” is a series of posts written by the finalists selected in our recent Club Med campaign. The finalists were flown to Bali, Indonesia (all-expense paid) from May 27-June 1 to participate in daily challenges to determine the best photographer to receive a US$10,000 photography assignment from Club Med.

–

Being selected from over 100 photographers to go actually to Bali was a satisfaction rather then a surprise, realizing that Travel & Destination is my specialty and some of the other guy’s hobby… I knew my chances are above average to be there.

The Club Med competition was from the start obviously of interest to me. I knew also that this challenge had not that much in common with a real assignment as the design and the restraints of it, are things you never are presented with on a real assignment. A fact that the whole challenge made a fun experience rather than a contest.

When I found out, I flew back to Singapore from another assignment, unpacked and packed my bags and off I went.

I met Suhaimi already on the airport and it was great to hook up with another camera crazy guy. Its one reason this challenge was a lasting experience. You very rarely get the chance to work together with other photographers on something. Its always a task you solve alone or with your team. To meet 9 likeminded “warriors of Light” from all over Asia and sharing over meals and drinks silly thoughts, knowledge and experiences from the day and their past work was the biggest prize you could win.

I think all of us had a great time.

Although it’s a “shoot-out” or competition, I never quite saw Bali this way. I knew that all 9 at the end have similar chances, because the tasks and time constraints are not reflecting what you would normally do. You get thrown out of your comfort zone or working style and you have to try something different and improvise for the most part.

It was also great to see what other guys came up with, being presented with their individual challenges.

The greatest thing for me was that despite the “contest” all the guys were so cool about the whole challenge and were really in to celebrate the moment, rather then to “outdo” your fellow photographer. I honestly liked all of the guys and felt this was like everyone felt as well. It may sound cheesy, but the unexpected chemistry between us is what made everything worthwhile and I’m sure some of us will stay in touch long after this.

I already have plans to meet Gary in Surabya.. (he just does not know it yet ), but would love to go South Korea and visit Min, to Australia to visit John, to Malaysia, to Japan… Darn Eyeka!!!

Club Med as such was new for me and despite the size the Club Med Bali is a really nice place to make your holidays. The booking numbers speak for themselves. The difference to other resorts and hotels that striked me most, was the fact that everyone seemed constantly active doing something. People coming here seemed energized and fit and they get lots of facilities offered to stay active.

Much left to say.. But doing is better then talking…

- Felix Hug, Singapore

Hi All

After much deliberation, Acian Tech and Eyeka have selected the winner. The winner is Roy Wee ( roywwp). He managed the closest interpretation of the brief’s requirements and translate that into a design/illustration about what “Delivering Innovation” is all about.

Kindly see the all shortlisted entries.

Hi Eyekasian,

The overwhelming response to Eyeka Creative Challenge was heartening and the Eyeka management team had a difficult task to accomplish – to select the winner, since entries received were creative and of high production value.
After much deliberation, the Eyeka management team has selected the winner. The winner is Chaoge from Singapore. Chaoge managed the closest interpretation of the brief’s requirements and translate that into an animation of high video quality.

You may view the winning work by clicking the image below:

Thank you for all your participation and please join us in congratulating the winner!