Vignes Balasingam
Vignes Balasingam is a curator and photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the director of the prestigious OBSCURA Festival of Photography. This website is a gallery of selected works from his personal and commercial photographic practice as well as links to current and past projects. Vignes Balasingam graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Contemporary Music Writing from the University of Westminster, London.
Corporate + Govt. Clientele
Deutsche Bank (Hong Kong)
NokiaSiemens (Malaysia)
Leighton Asia (Hong Kong)
Franklin Templeton (Malaysia)
Shell (Malaysia)
PEMANDU (Malaysia)
Sarawak Energy (Malaysia)
Ogilvy PR (Malaysia)
Siemens (Malaysia)
Draft FCB
Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development, Malaysia
Ministry of Federal Territories, Malaysia
Editorial
The New York Times
Financial Times
Getty Global Assignments
INTHEBLACK (Australia)
CPA Australia
Mens Folio (Malaysia)
KLUE (Malaysia)
Junk Magazine (Malaysia)
Cubes Magazine (Australia & Singapore)
Non-profit Clientele
Mercy Malaysia
UNHCR
UNICEF
Amnesty International Malaysia
CURRICULUM VITAE
Academic Awards
BMus. Univ. Westminster, London, UK
Curatorial + Art Direction
2013-2020
OBSCURA Festival of Photography
2016-2020
Southeast Asian Photography Masterclass
2018
Confluence by Ian Teh, Ruang Gallery, 2HK, Kuala Lumpur
2017
Alvin Lau Solo Exhibition, Jeon Ju Photo Festival, South Korea
Songs From the Nusantara, Photo Zürich, Switzerland
2016
Songs From the Nusantara, Chennai Photo Biennale, India
2015
Person(a),White Box, Publika, Kuala Lumpur
Travel Photographer Asia
2012
Fotoprojek: Bersih 3.0 Retrospective, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur
Jury + Nominator
2020
Head On Photo Awards
Sydney, Australia
2019
Joop Swart Masterclass
World Press Photo
2018
The Fence, Brooklyn, NY
Travel Photographer Asia
2017
6X6 Global Talent Programme, World Press Photo
Getty Images Instagram Grant
POPCAP African Prize for Contemporary Photography, Switzerland
Photo Zürich, Switzerland
2016
Kuala Lumpur International Photo Awards
Travel Photographer Asia
POPCAP Awards for Contemporary African Photography
POPCAP Prize for Contemporary African Photography
2014
Angkor Photo Festival Portfolio Reviewer
Awards
2009 - Winner of the Golden Scarf Foundry Photojournalism Workshops, Manali, India
2009 - Best Album Artwork, 16th Malaysian Music Industry Awards (Anugerah Industri Muzik ke-16)
Other
2020
Mentor:
Long Term Project Photography Workshop 2020, Bangkok, Thailand
2018
In Conversation With Manit Sriwanichpoom, A+ Gallery
2017
Creative Director, Workshop Mentor & Picture Editor
Children Without : UNICEF Report on Urban Child Poverty in Kuala Lumpur
External Supervisor
Master of Arts, Photography Studies College, Melbourne, Australia
2015
Lecture: A Quick Look at Photographs : The Active Role of Photography In Shaping Our Understanding of the World, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang
Talk & Presentation: Photographs From the Land, talk at The Nikon Center, Kuala Lumpur
Take Photo for What Talk at Yale University NUS Campus, Singapore
2014
Angkor Photo Festival Portfolio Reviewer
Publications
2014 - Confluence, for Ian Teh (Panos) - Editor & Project Management:
2017 - We Will Have Been Young - work from the Southeast Asian Photography Masterclass: Project Manager. Designed and published by dienacht Publishing, Germany.
NEWSLINKS
Interview on Lets Talk: With Sharaad Kuttan (2019)
What is Southeast Asian Photography | BFM Radio Podcast, with Sharmila Ganesan (2019)
The Urgent Task of Documentation | Penang Art District, by Ellen Lee (2019)
What It's Like to be Young and In Love in Southeast Asia | CNN.com - by Stella Ko.
Vignes Balasingam: Building a dream, one photo at a time - Star 2 / Rouwen Lin (2015)
More Than Selfies - The Bigger Picture on BFM, Podcast (2015)
PERSON(A) interview by Büro (2015)
Snapshots of Self - New Straits Times / Kerry Ann Augustin (2015)
Look And Learn - Lydia Koh / The Malay Mail Online
Photo Feature: OBSCURA Festival of Photography 2014 - Ling Low / POSKOD
OBSCURA Festival: Back Again...Even Bigger and Better - Opalyn Mok / The Malay Mail Online
Awaken Your Vision at OBSCURA Festival of Photography - N. Rama Lohan / The Star Online
These Pictures Can Talk - Malay Mail Online / Kenny Mah
Podcast Interview with Vignes Balasingam & Ian Teh - BFM 89.9 / Ezra Zaid & Caroline Oh (2013)