It felt appropriate to follow on from the previous post of ornamental architecture with this – a sort of evolution towards function (but ultimately, still with the primary purpose of entertainment-generated revenue). Whilst the Hudson Yards structure leaves the visitor to fill it with their own imagination and selfies, Gardens by The Bay defines the contents for you: nature, sanitised and presented in a consumer-friendly manner, complete with gift shop. In a way, it’s philosophically very similar to Singapore in general: efficient, stylised, modern, clean, but somewhat, well, rigid. Maybe it just feels strange to have trees inside a dome; no matter how well presented. Surely we aren’t at the point where nature is so scarce even in the developing tropics that we need to treat it as ornamental…or perhaps this is the only way some people can be motivated to appreciate nature in the first place at all. Between the weather and the underlying sentiment…I intentionally chose a heavier, darker presentation which I think conveys the mood quite well. MT
This series was shot with a Nikon Z7, 24-70/4 S, 50/1.8 S and my custom SOOC JPEG profiles.
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Ming Thein | Photographer 
Can you tell us which photo is shot with the 50mm and which is 24-70mm?
There’s exif data for each image on Flickr if you click through the photos themselves.
“or perhaps this is the only way some people can be motivated to appreciate nature in the first place at all”.
I think you’ve probably hit it there. How many people now will go for a walk in the woods, or even a park or zoo? They have little interest in it, there are no bars and Wi-Fi points, and there may possibly be, like, insects or something.
Eeeek!
I get the feeling this is changing in the post-COVID reality, though. Get cooped up inside too long and you start to appreciate the spaces outside – even without wifi. How long that lasts is of course another thing entirely.