The Photographer’s Green Book: Across the S.E.A.

Poster for ‘Across The S.E.A.’. Image courtesy of Lee Chang Ming.

In this part of the world, the first time I learnt about the 'Negro Motorist Green Book' was through a film titled ‘Green Book’ released in 2018. The movie sparked a fair share of controversy in how the significance of the book, from which the film adopted its name, was reduced to a prop. It was an essential guide that offered a list of hotels, restaurants and other safe spaces for African-American travellers on their journeys through the racially segregated landscape of America. Today, with the Internet and ease of remote communication and collaboration, a different type of ‘Green Book’ has emerged for another community around the world – 'The Photographer’s Green Book' (PGB) for Southeast Asia.

Portrait of Lee Chang Ming. Image courtesy of Lee Chang Ming.

The Photographer's Green Book Vol. 1, first printing. Image courtesy of The Photographer's Green Book.

A spread from The Photographer's Green Book Vol. 1, first printing. Image courtesy of The Photographer's Green Book.

Singapore artist, photographer and writer Lee Chang Ming was selected as the first resident in PGB’s Traveler’s Residency in February 2022. The outcome of the month-long engagement is a non-exhaustive list of over a hundred photography-related initiatives in Southeast Asia, and further extends to South and East Asia through an open call. In the following conversation, Chang Ming shares his experience of putting together ‘Across The S.E.A.’, what he hopes for the directory to do and his thoughts on accessibility, visibility and collectivity in the photographic community.

What is PGB about? What is its objective and how is it organised?

It is a resource hub that focuses on inclusion, diversity, equity, and advocacy within the photographic community. Its target audience is the People of the Global Majority and the LGBTQI+ community. It aims to challenge us to move away from Eurocentric ideology to conceptualise and validate photographic production. PGB was founded by Jay Simple and the team consists of artists, photographers, and educators based in the United States of America.

What did you explore during the residency and what are the outcomes of it?

My proposed research project was to consolidate and make accessible a resource list of photographic organisations and initiatives in Southeast Asia. One of the reasons I proposed this project was that there did not seem to be any such list available. Another reason was that the PGB had several organisations in their directory which looked at Asia but were mostly not based in Asia. Since their open call addressed People of the Global Majority, I saw this as a gap to highlight Asian voices from Asia. Given that the residency was only for a month, I decided to limit the scope of the project and focus on Southeast Asia, primarily because I am from Singapore, which is geographically situated in the region.

Instagram posts on Lee Chang Ming’s instagram (@eelchangming) for an open call for organisations and initiatives in Southeast Asia. Images courtesy of Lee Chang Ming.

I took two approaches to make this directory. One was by doing my own research and the other was to do an open call. During the open call, I received submissions from South and East Asia, and decided it was worth including them. The final outcome is a directory consisting of over 100 organisations and initiatives.

Could you spotlight three organisations and/or initiatives in your list andshare more about how they are important to the community?

Arkademy is a photography collective based in Indonesia and they do interesting educational programmes that take a critical look at the relationship between photography and society. Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops is an important photography event that has supported the photographic community in Asia since 2005, and before the pandemic, they provided free workshops by established photographers. Luzviminda is a photo archive that promotes Philippine photography and does the less seen work of preserving photographs that may be of social and/or artistic value.

What impact do you wish your work with PGB can have for the photography community and beyond?

Right before writing my project proposal, there were several incidents of anti-Asian hate crimes in America and Europe. I think it was a prompt for me to think about what could be done to amplify Asian voices as photography can be a great tool for creating awareness and visibility. At the same time, I am not naive to think that photographs alone can cause social change, but sometimes we have to start somewhere and do what we can, even if it is simply to say, "Hey, look at this."

Although the directory is a non-exhaustive list, my hope is that this publicly accessible online directory can act as a starting point to discover other resources, photographers, and diverse perspectives from the region. Anyone interested in the conversation of photography happening in this part of the world – whether they are artists, curators, researchers, photo editors, educators, students, etc. – can hopefully use this list to find out more. I know that the language barrier is an issue for who can access it or what I could find, but I guess Google translate will have to do for now. If I were to have the time and resources, I would like to keep the list updated as there are definitely many more initiatives that could be included.

How has working with TPGB influenced your own practice?

I do not think it directly impacted my own practice as an artist, but I was surprised and inspired by the wide range of organisations and initiatives which I had not heard about before! It is encouraging to know that the photographic community in Southeast Asia – and the wider region – is so diverse.

The diversity in the directory spans from archives, educational platforms and collectives to galleries, publishers and festivals. Do you see any gaps that could still be filled?

Although there is a wide range of organisations and initiatives across the region, it seems that most of the efforts are done in isolation or within their own locales, as opposed to engaging with the rest of the region, and they may not even be aware of each other's existence, which is partly why I wanted to make this directory. On a related note, I have been helping out with a platform called Writing Foto, which aims to gather writings on photography loosely directed at the imaginaries of South/east Asia. I see this as one effort to bring together voices in the region.

I also had trouble finding out much when it came to countries such as Laos, Brunei, and Timor-Leste. In terms of gaps in types of organisations, I do not think I am in a position to answer that, although it does seem that new ones are being created all the time which is encouraging and inspiring.

The full list of photographic organisations and initiativesfrom ‘Across The S.E.A.’ by Chang Ming can be viewed atwww.photogreenbook.com/across-the-sea.