Nature as construct: a conservation project in Singapore

My photographic work explores the idea of a socially-constructed ‘nature’ (which is often assumed to be untouched, unspoiled, ‘natural’), in Singapore, where over 90% of native lowland rainforest has been destroyed since 1819, a consequence of a booming economy and fast-growing population. My work documents the few remaining areas of land undergoing deforestation to make way for the country’s largest building project, new Housing Development Board flats; and questions the artificiality of ‘nature replacements’ through the conservation project. 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