Our cover this issue features three stunning panoramas by Moroccan-born Singapore-based visual artist Juria Toramae. Her new collection explores themes of identity, memory and place through a series of visual narratives where old photographs create surreal memories of Singapore’s landscape.

 

The images were made through compositing—archival components were hand-colored and merged with my own photographs. Every component is deliberate: refl ecting fl aws, imperfection of memories gathered from interviews, local literature and past news articles.

 

The idea for the images was born out of my interest in restoring displaced memories, especially those in the form of photographic artifacts. I realized that the more we look into these artifacts, the more displaced we became. To make sense of this, I felt compelled to weav individual memories according to their respective place of creation as if time in that particular place has collapsed. In some way, it’s an attempt to make the past less foreign.

 

The sense of perpetuity. The sea has been the only constant in our ever-changing landscape.

 

It is normal. We just need to be mindful of the present, too, as Singapore continues to change.

 

This series is a work-in-progress. I’m hoping to cover the entire coastline as well as other inaccessible islands.