The making of Galactic Paint — Astrophotography and the allure of a childhood fascination

In land-starved Singapore, there never seems to be enough space to do what we want – and the yearning for exploration always seems to push us to go beyond our borders or artificially reclaim new land. But have we ever stopped for a moment to think about the space above us?

For most of humanity, Mother Nature has put on its very own light show when the sun sets, sparking imagination and wonderment since time immemorial. But in the pursuit for more time after dark, we have unknowingly lost one of the most fascinating sights known to man. This is especially true in Singapore, where the pursuit for modernisation has bestowed the city-state with the title of the world’s most light-polluted country. This means that unlike many others around the world, Singaporeans would be far less likely to wonder about the stars and the universe. 

While our night sky is often a shade of orangey yellow (which has increasingly become a cool shade of blue due to the adoption of even brighter LED lights), some Singaporeans have stumbled on the wonders of the universe through other avenues. In the case of the protagonist of my latest documentary work, Ivan Bok first saw how big space could be from his relatively small primary school library, where he became engrossed with books about the universe. Each flip of the page unearthed yet another amazing inhabitant of the Milky Way and beyond. This enlightened his perspective during the rare occasion of a cloudless sky during a new moon.

We all have childhood fascinations - a first dream that is untethered by the chains of reality. But while life and society usually finds its way to make us think more pragmatically, Ivan has been able to hold on to his dream. From his first telescope from Toys-R-Us when he was just eight years old, my latest documentary, Galactic Paint, provides audiences with an intimate peek into how that childhood fascination manifested into a lifelong passion for the now-24 year old astro-photographer, who captures dazzling images of the final frontier.

Between studying at the National University of Singapore as a Chemical Engineer and Business student and giving tuition to fund his astro-photography aspirations, the remainder of his time is spent at the balcony of his HDB home. Five storeys high above the Toa Payoh heartland, Ivan monitors the skies and brushes up on his technique, so that when a window of opportunity opens up, he is ready to capture what lies beyond our human perception.

This was a project that I had been discussing with Ivan for the past 2 years, with my personal enthusiasm stemming from the fact that I had once dreamed of doing what he does now. But while I was content with just watching documentaries about it, he experimented and learned the intricacies of the craft in capturing the wonders of the universe beyond the veil of light pollution that shrouds our skies. Galactic Paint reflects that wide-eyed enthusiasm of witnessing the result of a kid growing up to do what he had always dreamt of doing.

But as we were producing the documentary, what immediately became clear was that the strength of the film is less on the amazing photos taken by Ivan, but the juxtaposition of the situational elements where Ivan performs his craft.

Here is a young astro-photographer with little disposable income, based in the most light-polluted country on the planet, situated not on its outskirts but right in the centre of its heartland, and shooting from a window where other HDB buildings tower over his view, not the empty field most people might imagine. And despite all this, Ivan provides images that few will think of associating with him and the environmental circumstances where it was captured.

It was this realisation that highlighted the key message of Galactic Paint – that circumstances beyond one’s control is no reason to give up on something. It is a lesson that I learned while making this work, one that I think, is as illuminating as gazing upon the starry night itself.

We are eager to share Galactic Paint beyond the digital stage. Ivan and I are actively looking for opportunities to engage audiences with the talks on the mechanics behind Ivan's astrophotography in Singapore as well as the methodology behind capturing it on film. We hope to do this and create traction for a funded sequel and explore more of the universe from a uniquely Singaporean perspective.