A Click to the Past

TLee Maw Jia’s travels and thoughts captured in black and white
Text and photos by Lee Maw Jiar

I was looking through the photographs taken throughout the years I had studied and worked in the UK – between 2015 and 2019 – before I returned to Malaysia right before Covid-19 became a global pandemic, and I thought to myself, you lucky man!Good thing you have done a fair bit of travelling right before the lockdowns.

The visual style and composition of these photographs were largely influenced by Greig Fraser, best known for his cinematography works for the Dune (2021) and the Batman (2022) films, which were grainy, moody, subtle and full of contrasts, often taken with short portrait lenses.

The subject of these photographs often features one, or a few people, and the sheer scale of the adjacent buildings, urbanscapes or landscapes, almost engulfs the subject, reminding us of our diminution in relation to our environments.These photographs also seek to bring forth the feeling of silence and solitude, accentuated by its deliberate monochrome presentation with a dystopic quality, perhaps a homage to the forgotten world of pre-Covid-19?Anyway, I shall let your imagination run free while I share snippets of my travels with you.

The height of the summer heatwave, an enormous floating colossus seen dawning upon a man on a boat, like something was looming over the nation at that time, aka Brexit.

Probably an accidental shot taken where the French word ‘Abbyse L’Exposition’, or Abyss Exposition, was framed neatly in the centre arch.Rather dark and ironic considering it is situated within a stone’s throw away from the 2nd largest mosque in the African continent.

Historically, a destination for religious pilgrimage, and now a place for people of all faiths and beliefs to immerse in this ancient Roman city.And all I could think of in my head throughout my entire visit was lyrics to Bastille, which goes like, “But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?“Yes, cliché I know.

She exclaimed: ”Oh this looks oddly familiar! I can see the resemblance!” referencing the natural basalt formations of the Icelandic landscapes as seen just a few days ago in Reynisfjara beach which the building’s unique glass façade takes after.

A foreigner from a foreign custom, she puts on a chador for this first time.The Arabian mid-afternoon heat was relentless, but the majesty of the mosque gave a lot of reason to stay for more exploration.

Object in a plane; the separation between the sculpture and architecture; I do not think I have anything profound to add as everyone who attended architecture school probably have his or her own opinion on his work.

Miraculously, the weather was kind albeit gloomy throughout the four days driving up to the Isle of Skye from Glasgow.A friend seen walking away from the shoreline in melancholy as the fortress towers over the loch, even from a great distance.

A quick stop at an industrial area by the seaport while driving around the Bohuslän peninsular, stumbled upon a rather odd and peculiar public bath and sauna, with views of container cranes?Interesting.

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