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Nature as Construct: A Conservation Project in Singapore

This special edition of Photography and Culture entitled ‘Wasting Nature: Ecocriticism and Photography’ explores photography’s relationship to nature, specifically, the theoretical, historical and interdisciplinary dimensions of ecocriticism and photography. It seeks to reflect upon the ways in which photography participated in conservation movements and how photographers contribute to ecological consciousness.

While a significant amount of research has previously been undertaken around conservation and bio-diversity in Singapore, this work stems from a scientific investigation into extinction rates of tropical areas, where the country is an apt example of urban development, and data collated by British and Singaporean naturalists over two centuries offers a clear benchmark of species decline. My photo-essay entitled ‘Nature as Construct’ explores the idea of a socially-constructed ‘nature’ in Singapore, where 90% of its native lowland forest has been destroyed over the last 200 years. My work questions the artificiality of nature replacements through the conservation project, focusing on the deforestation of native forestland, and simultaneous urban greening programmes set up by the Singaporean government. My research underscores the significance of construction as a way of projecting a certain vision or idea of nature, and indeed, particular ideologies.

Exploring ideas around the symbolism of landscape architecture, my research considers how conceptions of nature can be connected to deeper social, cultural and political structures, where, in the Singaporean context, a manicured and managed nature is a social construction reflective of political and economic agendas.

The essay is roughly 2000 words long with a series of 4 photographs selected from a larger set. Published by Berg, Photography and Culture is a peer-reviewed publication which is international in scope and inter-disciplinary in its contributions. It has established itself as a leading platform for critical thinking on photography.