3 Seconds
More often than not, media portrays the athletes of Singapore as the warriors of this Garden City, showcasing the glory of all victories.
However beyond the glamour and all things bright and colourful in the society today, there is so much more that is shunned away from the public eyes. One has never seen the blood, sweat, tears and numerous injuries that plagues these athletes with their daily trainings. The amount of handwork and time that they have put in preparation for the a team to perform at a international platform are usually undermined.
In the game of netball, a decision has to be made within 3 seconds and in that, so many things can happen. The National Netball players go through an intensive and rigorous training daily to perform at the highest level; to be able to make the ‘right’ decision within 3 seconds of attacking play.
This photographic documentation, 3 Seconds, hopes to construct a narrative to show the parallel stories between the Netball players of the National team in Singapore, their love for the sport and to shed light on the Singapore sports scene. With many juggling with being part-time athletes and holding a day job, 3 Seconds delves underneath the surface of a netball player where there lies much more that are untold and unseen.
Explored through the medium of photography, 3 seconds seeks to express the complexity of story telling through a vision of the seen and unseen. By creating images to build a series, it allows audiences to form their own composite interpretation according to their own understanding.
In the first publication, the book follows the order of the athlete’s week. Chronicling gym weight trainings, to court trainings on weekdays and to league games on weekends.
This is my life, a second print publication also accompanies the main book where 3 Netball Singapore players are given a disposable film camera to take photos of their daily life through the span of 2 weeks. It is then compiled into an accordion fold book with a piece of paper and with a mini booklet for each of their lives.
This disposable camera project seeks to document a little peak into their daily lives where they are not training, whether as a full time student or working in the society. Beyond their achievements, sportswear dripping with perspiration, they are all normal beings like any of us. Just maybe someone that demands greater discipline and sacrifice for the love of this sport and the nation.
The athletes who participated in this project are from the Netball Singapore Opens Team in 2017, from January 2017 to May 2017. All photographs are taken with permission from Netball Singapore coach, players and SportSG consent.
3 Seconds is a research and photographic project taken under DV3008, Visual Communications VI in Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design and Media with Jesvin Yeo.