Melisa Teo | |
|---|---|
 Teo in Paris in 2019 | |
| Born | 5 February 1975 Singapore |
| Education | National University of Singapore Sorbonne University |
| Occupation | Photographer |
| Spouse | |
| Website | www |
Melisa Teo (born 5 February 1975) is a Singaporean photographer living and working in Paris. For many years, she focused her camera on religious subjects but nature is now the central theme of her photography.
From 2008 to 2011,Teo documented her journey through the worlds of Buddhism, Hinduism and Santeria in Asia and Latin America, attempting to understand spirituality and the role of the divine through religion and faith.
The result was contrasted with the photographs of the late Franco-Iranian photographer Abbas [1] in a work called Dark Light. It was also published in a book called Light From Within (Canvas, Singapore 2012)/ Lumière Surgie de l'Intérieur (Les Éditions du Pacifique, Paris, 2012). [2] [3] [4] [5] [ non-primary source needed ][ better source needed ]
In 2013, Teo participated in 7 Days in Myanmar, a book and multi-media project involving 30 photographers, each documenting a different region of Myanmar over the same seven days. [6] [7] [ better source needed ]
From 2014 to 2016, she travelled from Vietnam to Laos, Taiwan to Israel, Morocco to France shifting her focus from searching for spirituality in religious rites and rituals to finding it in everyday life, resulting in the work The Light Beyond. [8] [9] [10] [ non-primary source needed ] [11] [12] [ non-primary source needed ] In the same year, with the project Eden, [13] [14] Teo turned to nature as the central theme of her work.
From 2018 to 2019, she photographed the trees of Paris, focusing on man's intuitive rapport with nature. This work is published in Les Arbres de Paris/The Trees of Paris [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] (Les Éditions du Pacifique, Paris, 2020), with foreword by the French author Sylvain Tesson. [24] [25] [26] [ citation needed ]also manages Fonds Abbas Photos which protects, preserves and promotes the oeuvre and heritage of the Magnum photographer Abbas, who passed away in 2018. [27] [28] [29] [30] [ citation needed ]
In 2022, she was the subject of a documentary film in the television series Find Me a Singaporean, featuring her work and life in Paris. [31]
In 2023, she was a jury member of the Political Photography Prize awarded by the National Assembly of France and LCP, the Parliamentary Channel. [32] [33]
Prior to photography, Teo worked in book publishing.