Stefen Chow
BIO
Stefen Chow is grateful to be a witness through his lens. An accomplished mountaineer, he has climbed some of the world’s highest mountains including summiting Mount Everest back in 2005. Stefen has photographed for some of the most respected organizations, including Geo, Smithsonian, Time, Cartier and Shell. His work has been exhibited in Pingyao, Paris, Los Angeles and Singapore. Stefen lives in Beijing and Singapore.
EDUCATION
2003 - Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Artist statement
Since time immemorial, Man has treated mountains as the lesser known and sacred. Across cultures and millennia, Man worships them, and many fear them. Philosophers chart history with them. Geologists explain, seismologists predict and poets praise them. The motivation to climb a mountain is perverse; it is in direct defiance to nature; yet it is also the most natural thing to do. Across the world, we have tamed nature. Skyscrapers, underground malls, endless network of roads, cables, radio waves, information has sprouted out on mega cities as if we have done this forever. However, Nature does not cater to Man. When mountaineers attempt these mountains, they are reminded of the relationship they have with nature. The delicate balance. The intimacy we have with nature’s behavior. We gently step on them, with respect, dignity and understanding. This work seeks to draw the relation between Man and mountains, and how we don’t conquer mountains, but merely creep up on them for the sacred glimpse of magic.
Exhibition Dates
Selected Solo Exhibition "Imperial Awakening", Pingyao International Photography Festival, China, 2009 "Unusual Spaces", The Asylum, Singapore, 2009 “Climbing the Human Spirit - an Everest Journey”, The National Library, Singapore, 2006 Selected Group Exhibitions Luo Fang Bo, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2010 Photo Los Angeles, 2010 Photo Miami, Miami, 2009 Prix de la Photographie, Espace Dupon Gallery, Paris, 2009 Singapore Art Show 2007, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, 2007 Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition, Singapore, 2006 HYPE, The Arts House, Singapore, 2005
