Biography

Tan Lip Seng, who was born in Singapore in 1942, took up photography as a hobby when he was only twelve years old. Now retired, he spent his career lifetime of 42 years practicing medical photography with the Department of Medicine and the Department of Paediatrics at the National University of Singapore.

Outside his career, he is also an accomplished photographer, gaining local recognition when he was awarded with the Cultural Medallion for Photography in 1985. In the 1st Ngee Ann Photographic Art Exhibition held in 2005, he was named as Photographer of the Year by the Ngee Ann Cultural Center.

His work with colour transparency derivation images gained him international recognition amongst world-respected societies. As a long-time Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, he was awarded the Fenton Medal in 1998. He is also recognised by the Photographic Society of America, which bestowed on him the honour of the 2nd Diamond Galaxy Award in 1996 followed by Fellowship of the Society (FPSA) in 1999. 

Photo travel is one of his specialities.  Not only is he good at capturing the colour, texture and form of the natural landscapes he visits, he also captures vividly the culture of their people, character and personalities.

His works are collected and housed permanently by:

• International Kameraklub Bilderbank Collections, Camera Club Linz, Austria (1996)
• The Grace Lock Memorial APS Permanent Collection of Slides, Australia (2001)
• Ngee Ann Cultural Centre, Singapore (2005)
• The National Museum of Singapore (National Heritage Board) (2008)

He is also one of the photographers featured by the Singapore Post for the Singapore Today 2008 National Day Celebration stamp issue.

In this exhibition, he presents for the first time ever, a cross-section of nearly 400 prints, showcasing his passion for photography for more than half a century. These images will also be published in a book portfolio, his first-ever book to be published on such a grand scale.