Photographer, Discovered at 81 Years Old While He was Working as Cleaner, Dies
An acclaimed photographer, whose images were discovered when he was 81 and working as a cleaner, has passed away.
Singaporean photographer Lui Hock Seng died from pneumonia at 88 — only seven years after a breakthrough solo exhibition in Singapore first brought his archive to public attention.
His youngest son Roger Looi confirmed his death to Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times. Lui’s black-and-white photographs, many taken in the 1960s and 1970s, captured everyday life in a rapidly changing Singapore. Long unseen, his images were eventually released to critical acclaim, offering a rare glimpse into a vanished era.
“Photography was his life. It was in his blood. Wherever he went, he took along a camera,” his son Looi tells The Straits Times.
‘He Preserved a Piece of History’
Lui’s interest in photography began in the 1950s, when his eldest brother gave him a German-made Rolleiflex camera. A car mechanic by trade, Lui was a self-taught photographer who spent over six decades capturing everyday scenes on the streets of Singapore before gaining wider recognition. According to The Straits Times, his work documented a bygone era of Singapore– including images of snake meat vendors, letter-writers for the illiterate, and a boy drawing water from a well.
For many years, Lui also took on freelance photography jobs, shooting weddings and funerals. In his 40s, Lui was injured while repairing a car when a metal splinter hit his right eye. After that, he put his left eye to the lens instead and trained himself to take photos this way instead. In later years, he also kept up with new technology, using a digital camera and occasionally experimenting with Photoshop.
After a career as a mechanic, Lui worked as a cleaner. From 2012, he was employed at SPH Media (a major media company in Singapore), where his photographs were later discovered. In 2018, when Lui turned 81 years old, his work was picked up by media outlets in the country, which led to him being approached to have his first solo photo exhibition that same year.
That exhibition was held at the gallery Objectifs in Singapore. Titled Passing Time, it showcased black-and-white photographs of Singapore that Lui took in the 1960s and 1970s. His photo book of the same name was also published by Objectifs.
“When I first saw his work, I was really impressed,” Objectifs curator and director Ryan Chua says of first encountering Lui’s photography to The Straits Times. “I was like, wow, what a treasure trove. He is such a talented person and his work is very artistic — the composition, light, and shadows are beautiful. I thought, how come nobody knows about him?
“He preserved a piece of history that the younger generation have not seen, and may not know about.”
Lui’s photography gained international attention in 2018, including coverage by The BBC. His dedication to photography was also recognised by Singapore’s former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who described him as “a brilliant example of active ageing.”
Sadly, Lui was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, later that same year. He underwent chemotherapy, but doctors recently informed the family that the cancer had spread. Lui, who is a widower, is survived by his three sons and two grandchildren.
Lui Hock Seng’s prints are available here.
Image credits: All photos by Lui Hock Seng (courtesy of Objectifs).
