The Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF) returns for its 10th edition from 16 October 2026 to 31 January 2027, with a major focus on Singaporean photography and how the country has changed over the past 25 years.
Held under the theme “In My End Is My Beginning”, inspired by T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, SIPF 2026 marks 18 years of the festival. Its programme explores how photography captures memories, documents everyday life and shapes the way people interpret the world around them.
The festival’s anchor exhibition, Shifting Images: Photography from Singapore (2000–2025), brings together 47 artists across seven thematic group exhibitions at multiple venues. Rather than presenting a chronological history, the exhibition examines changing identities, social concerns and photographic technologies through different artistic perspectives.
Another key highlight is Singapore Index by local filmmaker and artist Tan Pin Pin. The solo exhibition at Shop-House by Deck features 63 photographs from a collection she began creating in 1991, after returning to Singapore at the age of 22 following time abroad.
Over 12 months, Tan used a wide-angle lens and direct flash to document Singapore’s everyday rituals, gatherings and social customs. The project produced approximately 2,800 black-and-white negatives, offering a glimpse into the lives of Singaporeans and the social fabric of the period.
The festival also features its International Portfolio Open Call Showcase and Open Call Photobook Showcase. Since 2008, these platforms have presented more than 700 projects from 56 countries, connecting photographers and artists from different backgrounds.
I attended the media launch on 15 October, which began with an introduction by SIPF Artistic Director Gwen Lee, followed by a walking tour around Geylang led by two resident photographer-artists and a sharing session by Tan Pin Pin.
The Geylang walk offered a different perspective on a neighbourhood often associated primarily with its red-light district reputation. Through the photographers’ observations and perspectives, the area could be seen beyond its familiar labels, with its streets, people and everyday surroundings offering stories of their own.
Tan’s sharing session provided further insight into her photographic practice and the significance of documenting ordinary moments. Her Singapore Index collection serves as a visual record of a particular period in Singapore’s history, preserving details of daily life that might otherwise be forgotten.
For me, the preview was also an opportunity to reconnect with my former artistic side and appreciate photography as more than simply taking pictures. It can be a way of observing familiar places differently, questioning established perceptions and discovering stories within the everyday.
With exhibitions spanning Singaporean photography, international portfolios and photobooks, SIPF 2026 offers visitors an opportunity to explore how images shape our understanding of places, people and the passage of time.
