Local photographer flexes his creative wizardry once again for National Day

<p>Ahh, National Day: the day Singaporeans express their love (or disdain) for Singapore in their own ways; the day numerous NS men and performers take to the floating stage, and the day when various localized marketing promos that celebrate all things Singapore come into play. Amidst all that, Singaporean photographer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JaydenTanPhotography/" target="_blank"><strong>Jayden Tan</strong></a> might have once again stolen the limelight (and pretty much one-upped himself this time) with the second edition of his &quot;Char Bor&quot; photo series.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/JaydenTanPhotography/photos/?tab=album&amp;a… target="_blank">Last year&#39;s series</a>&nbsp;</strong>saw a woman wearing couture headpieces made using &quot;Good Morning&quot; towels, raffia strings and more, in front of a typical cluster of HDB mailboxes. We lauded him for using the simplest everyday items in very creative ways to capture the essence of being Singaporean, but he&#39;s outdone himself this year, with the help of a couple of friends like stylist Josiah Chua and make-up artist Beno Lim.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Singapore-themed shoot tradition began back in 2014. But after last year&rsquo;s success and people asking me if I&rsquo;m going to make more &lsquo;Char Bors&rsquo;, it only felt natural to do a second part&quot;, Tan said.</p>
<p>For the second series, he used old school snacks because he felt that there was a sudden collective nostalgia about them this year. &ldquo;The food was so fun to play with, plus can eat during the shoot&rdquo;, he added.</p>
<p>Taking inspiration from Japanese hair stylist Ryoji Imaizumi, the photos feature <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4TX9ipuXUxVv2Yel0pDQ9a" target="_blank"><strong><em>Letters to Ubin</em></strong></a> singer Inch Chua donning various iconic secondary school uniforms with snacks of yesteryears crafted into out-of-this-world and seemingly edible headpieces&mdash;think beanie caps made using ice gem biscuits, a &quot;Good Morning&quot; towel turban adorned with noodles, fried spam and eggs, and a period Chinese drama prop that&#39;s been put together using biscuit piring wafers and sour strip candies.</p>
<p>&quot;Jo and I prepared a table full of old school snacks and sweets. We kept the crafting process organic and impromptu during the shoot&mdash;we didn&#39;t really fix on what sweets to use for which look until we were actually doing it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Check out the &quot;Char Bor Secondary School&quot; photo series for yourself below.</p>
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