Alicia: How has your work challenged social norms?

Charmaine: I like showing, not telling, by presenting work that normalises, as opposed to shocks. I focus more on revealing what I am drawn to, rather than becoming overly self-aware about how niche my opinions are. I want to celebrate my sense of normalcy.

Ele and Lee, from the project, How She Loves, which uses matrimonial tropes as a tool to look at how queer love is performed. 2018.

Alicia: You started out as a writer, pursued a degree in International Relations and graduated from Freie Universität Berlin with an M.A. in Visual and Media Anthropology. What encouraged you to make the pivot towards narrative portraiture, and how have your pursuits helped in the work you create?

Charmaine: I actually stumbled upon a class in documentary studies while studying for my international relations degree, that was my introduction into a world where I could combine photography and my curiosity about the world. Slowly, I realised that portraiture was becoming an important part of the work that I was making. As I began to dig deeper, I realised I needed some kind of framework to ground my involvement in communities, so I took up the masters’ degree. Everything in my life has informed one another. 

Alicia: Most of your works merge written work and imagery. Which of these mediums are you more comfortable with and which do you prefer working with? 

Charmaine: I’d feel so torn up if I really had to choose. They fulfil me in different ways. Words have been a part of my life since I was little. I started scribbling in a diary when I was seven. I spent so much of my childhood buried in a book. When I found photography, it helped me express so much that I had no words for.

 Widaya stands by her window. From the project, To Make A House Like A Castle, which looks at how single mothers and their children navigate the issue of space in Singapore. 2019.

Alicia: Talk us through your artistic process - how do you convey the feelings and stories of your subjects in an authentic way?

 Charmaine: I think it just starts with creating space for people to feel safe, and to listen and withhold judgment. And curiosity. Because without that there wouldn’t be anything to say.
  

Alicia: What were some of your projects that have been the hardest to conceive or issues that have been challenging to communicate through photography?

Charmaine: Not all ideas are best conveyed through photography, which is why I recently made a short film. It’s about intergenerational trauma. I worked with a movement artist to look at how trauma stays in the body.

Si Hui in her bedroom, with fabric flowers she has gotten as gifts in secondary school, sitting on a bedsheet with a period stain on it. From the series Room, which looks at the transition from girlhood to adulthood. 2016.

Alicia: Your first few projects started out with exploring self-identity (Learning to Leave) and the female identity (Room), subsequently exploring other projects around marginalised communities (Pretty Butch and How She Loves). Would you say that your work and views around identity have evolved over time and do you foresee it continuing to evolve?

Charmaine: I’m growing as a person and continually see myself and the world around me differently. Some questions that I had at the beginning of my career have changed. I know some answers, and ask different questions now. I think it’s also important to respond to the world as it shifts. We are in it, not apart from it.

Alicia: Tell us more about your views around the representation of the female body in popular culture/ fashion.

Charmaine: So much has happened in the last couple of years and I would say it’s a major move in inclusiveness. I’m happy to be where I am, seeing this turn. There’s also just much more representation in general, because of how people desire to and are able to represent themselves. I guess a question I have would be, can the female ever have the agency to not appear?

(Charmaine wears the Linen Open Back Top and Organic Cotton Double Layered Pants.)

Alicia: What’s next for you?

Charmaine: I’m excited about a more collaborative, multidisciplinary future. Everything I do is part of the same world I’m trying to build. Right now, I’m editing a film, starting to consolidate my projects into art books, and working with brands to create new imagery. I’m lucky and grateful.

Alicia: How can fashion brands be more inclusive in the way they portray the female identity?

Charmaine: I think the key is to portray someone with agency, dignity, and power. Everything else flows from that.

Check out Charmaine’s work here and follow her on Instagram at @psxcharmaine for more musings.