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Persistent, creative, passionate, adventurous and aesthetically-driven: That’s how photographer Jeff Hutchens describes himself.
These qualities can also be seen in his first exhibition in Singapore and Asia entitled Be Inspired: Igniting the Special Olympics Spirit. The exhibition opened yesterday at the National Library.
Last September, DHL and the Special Olympics worked together to take the Special Olympics Flame of Hope to China for the Special Olympics World Summer Games. Fourteen separate torches were taken to different parts of China, as well as cities around the world.
The exhibition is Hutchens’ collection of reportage-style pictures that he took during that period in different countries including Egypt, Greece, South Korea and the United States as well as those from the Games in Shanghai. The photos capture the commitment, the ecstasy, the agony and the inspiration and motivation of the athletes and all those involved in the Games, all from the viewpoint of the lensman.
But they also show the lengths the multiple award-winning photographer will go to in order to get the perfect shot.
“The places I was shooting in last year ranged from 50°C to below freezing. I was all over the map,” the 30-year-old photographer told Today.
Hutchens has made a name for himself capturing “natural moments” with his candid photography and transforming ordinary everyday scenes into extraordinary images. He was the sole photographer for the National Geographic Channel International (NGCI) for two years, before becoming a freelancer, shooting for the likes of Time magazine, the New York Times and Singapore Airlines.
Last year alone, he travelled from the Arctic Circle to the deserts of Africa to the streets of America.
“There have been a lot of physically-exhausting shoots and others have been pretty difficult, just in terms of getting access the stuff in the Arctic rank right up there!” he said, referring to his stark photo of a polar bear in the Arctic Circle, which won him a silver award at last year’s World Press Photo Competition.
“I could hardly keep batteries warm enough to use; and flying in on helicopters tracking a white polar bear in the Arctic is a little bit of a challenge, because they don’t pop out all that easily!” he said, with a laugh.
But despite going from desert to ice-caps, Hutchens said there are still two places he’d love to photograph.
“I would love to shoot in Japan,” he said. “I think my aesthetic style of shooting really would match up nicely with the overall Japanese aesthetic. And I would love to go to Iceland as well. That just seems like a great place: A beautiful fantastic landscape.”
“But part of that would be to sneak in some vacation time too!”
Well, we’re sure he’s earned enough frequent flyer miles to take a couple of holidays.
Be Inspired: Igniting theSpecial Olympics Spirit is on at The Plaza, National Library,till May 30, 10am to 9pm.Closed on public holidays. - TODAY/ar
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