60 for 60

60 for 60 drew from a different but equally rich set of stories coming from individuals. Through conversations with the bank’s staff, what emerged was a profound sense of camaraderie, adaptability, and care. This inspired the decision to photograph each family not in static poses, but in action, such as laughing, pouring tea, and playing with their children. It was important to the artist that these moments felt lived-in and relatable. The composite image, shaped into the outline of Singapore, becomes more than a portrait; it is a constellation of gestures that reflect the spirit of the organisation: human, layered, and quietly powerful together.
 
Culturally, the artist also references local and regional iconographies such as Peranakan textiles, the textures of a kampung kitchen, the rhythms of traditional tailoring, and food preparation. These visual and sonic memories helped to build a language that is distinctly Southeast Asian in sensibility, yet accessible in its emotional register.
 
The composite structure of the Singapore map is populated with family poses in meaningful actions such as kneading dough and pouring tea, with each gesture embedded within the quiet rituals of care. Heritage items like dim sum baskets, tiffin carriers, and porcelain cups appear not as decoration but as living artefacts and symbols of continuity and cultural texture amidst a globalised, modern context. While photographed across different countries, the families are united by these symbolic objects, which serve to root the artwork in the ethos of Asian values and familial interdependence.

60 for 60 was constructed with fragments: sixty family portraits across countries and cultures, each capturing a moment of shared action rather than posed stillness. Sarah says: “I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want this to feel like a corporate class photo. Instead, each family is treated as a unique story in motion: someone passing tea, another reaching to play with a child, a glance exchanged.” Stitching them into a digital composite was both a technical and emotional challenge, as the integrity of each family’s character had to remain visible, even as they formed part of a larger Singaporean silhouette.

Lighting, shadow and digital technique
In 60 for 60, where over 300 individuals are composited into a single tableau, lighting plays a vital role in creating visual coherence. Families photographed in different countries and locations and under different lighting conditions are re-graded to reflect a unified atmospheric palette that is moody and cinematic, with light falling in a directional, almost painterly manner. Gentle vignetting around the periphery focuses the viewer’s gaze inward, while shadows cast from body to body enhance the sense of interdependence and proximity.

Significance of the moon
The faint visual of the moon within 60 for 60 serves as a poetic anchor, evoking the cyclical rhythms of time and renewal that mirror the continual transference and reimagination of family rituals, values, and bonds across generations. Beyond its universal symbolism, the moon holds deep cultural significance in many Asian traditions, particularly as an emblem of reunion and familial harmony during celebrations such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year feasts. Its subtle presence within the artwork reinforces the themes of shared belonging, continuity, and the enduring sense of togetherness that transcend both distance and time.

Lead creative agency
Stellaire Pte. Ltd. - Harmin Kaur & Mahika Shenoy

Photographer
Sam Chin

Exhibition design
Dezign Format

Sarah Choo Jing (b. 1990, Singapore) is an interdisciplinary artist working with photography, video, and installation. Her work explores contemporary urban life, solitude, and the uncanny.
 

Choo earned her MFA from the Slade School of Art in 2015 and is based in Singapore. She was recently commissioned by Maison Valentino for the Soho House Residency at Singapore Art Week 2024. Her accolades include the Lumen Prize for Art and Technology (2021), 3rd Place in the Women United Art Prize (2023), and finalist spots for the 29th IVFA Awards (2024) and Audemars Piguet Art Commission (2020). She also received the ICON De Martell Cordon Bleu Photography Award and Kwek Leng Joo Prize for Excellence in Still Photography (2013).
 
Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco, 2023), Turku Art Museum (Helsinki, 2019), National Museum of Singapore (2017), and Busan Museum of Art (Korea, 2016). She has also shown at Art Paris (Grand Palais, 2015), START Art Fair (Saatchi Gallery, 2015), and Photo London (Somerset House, 2015). Her works are in the collections of the Chrysler Museum of Art, Singapore Art Museum, National Museum of Singapore, and The Arts Club Permanent Art Collection (London).