With a great love for people and cultures, Alecia Neo‘s work is often about common human experiences of alienation and loneliness, dislocation and belonging, and the search for self. Portraiture is the main focus of her work. Having recently embarked on a series of documentary projects in Singapore, she is enthralled by the process of getting to know her immediate surroundings and the nucleus which she operates from.

Her latest body of work, “Home Visits” has received an Honorable Mention in the 2009 Bernice Abbott Prize by juror Tim B. Wride, Curator of the Department of Photographs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “Home Visits” has also been selected for the 2nd Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF), that opens on 15 Oct 2010.

She currently works as an editorial photographer and continues to work on her personal projects.

Home Visits

I am most drawn to individuals with stories to tell, common people with imperfections. I see my own vulnerability in theirs. What I love most about photography is the way it allows me to form new relationships with people, and how it allows an entry point to the unknown.

In this series, I photograph people in the neighbourhood that I grew up in. Being one of Singapore’s oldest housing estates developed by the government’s public housing authority, Queenstown is populated with curious characters. Some have lived in this area all their lives, building a tight knit social group within the estate, while others are foreigners, making this place home temporarily.

I find myself being captivated by the way these individuals move and rest in their spaces. Without political or scientific intent, my personal approach focuses on my sitters’ personalities, relationships and their spaces. Often photographing them in their homes and workspaces, the images offer an insider’s peek into the psyche and lives of Singaporeans. While the nation is often conveniently dismissed as monotonous and operating with clinical dentistry, the presence of these tenderly flawed individuals appear enchanting.