Veteran photographer and Cultural Medallion recipient Foo Tee Jun dies at 90

SINGAPORE – Veteran Singaporean photographer Foo Tee Jun, who received the Cultural Medallion for photography in 1989, died on Feb 18 aged 90.

He died peacefully at Sengkang General Hospital, smiling and joking before he breathed his last, said his daughter Vanessa Foo, 53.

He had been severely weakened by a bout of dengue in December 2025, but the cause of death was pneumonia. He is survived by his wife Goh Sok Hui, 83; his daughter; and his son Stanley Foo, 51.

An early adopter of the lens in the 1950s when it was still a niche and expensive hobby in Singapore, Foo Tee Jun received his final solo, titled

Time & Tide

, at Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film in 2024.

The Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS) paid tribute to Foo’s keen eye for detail that won him countless awards. He was a long-time member and trustee of the society.

PSS president Goh Kim Hui, whom Foo recruited to the organisation in the 1970s, said: “He was passionate, very humble and easy-going. We called him ‘evergreen’ because his works continue to be refreshing and eye-catching today.”

Foo’s strongest works were black-and-white analogue pictures he developed in the dark room himself. Mr Goh added: “It required excellent control of the conditions to achieve the effects he aimed for. We are always shocked at how well they turn out. We have lost a well-known photographer who had gained respect not only in Singapore, but also in the region.”

Local photographer Darren Soh thanked Foo for proving to younger photographers that they could be both artists and documentarians at the same time.

Few in that period managed to operate as adeptly as he did in both genres, another example being 94-year-old commercial photographer Chua Soo Bin.

Soh remembered how candidly Foo spoke of the two modes’ sometimes antagonistic requirements during a talk he gave in 2024.

“He knew exactly what was required and how they would be framed differently. Photographing for the Ministry of the Environment, he needed to make sure the photo was representative of what he was shooting. As an artist, he could focus more on the lines, shape, shadow and light.”

Soh also saw in Foo a fellow commemorator of Singapore scenes that would otherwise disappear. He refers to Foo’s photo Wedding In Kampung shot in the 1960s of a bride and groom in Western dress stepping out of an attap house – an odd collage of incongruent images unique to that time of rapid change.

He adds: “Despite his failing health, Mr Foo continued to show support for the photographic community with his presence at events such as the opening of the Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition 2025. That was the last time I saw him.”

Born in 1935, Foo was the only person in his secondary school class who owned a camera. It was a second-hand Agfa given to him by his factory worker father on his 15th birthday, which he first wielded to capture the speed and sweat of school basketball matches.

In his 20s as a dental clinic technician, his boss lent him a Rolleiflex camera that he took on expeditions every Sunday and which he used to enrol as a member of the PSS. In 1965, a friend lent him money to buy an analogue Nikon, a debt Foo would repay in $50 instalments over more than a year.

For 21 years from 1974, he was an official photographer for the then Ministry of the Environment, shooting pictures for its newsletters and reports on the progress of construction sites or the hygiene of specific locales.

But he also shot more artistically composed photographs of a Singapore of trishaws, billowing laundry hung on strings and small sail boat competitions. He turned construction work into pictorialist images of geometric abstraction, such as his Worker Through Concrete Pipe At Construction Site that transformed a workaday act into a game of 007 barrel perspectives and watery reflections.

Ms Foo said her father was always open to new technology, and was fascinated by how artificial intelligence could be used to manipulate images. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he adapted to Zoom quickly to hold photography discussions and presentations.

Foo once told The Straits Times he was not snobbish about the camera. In his old age, his arms were too enfeebled to hold up an analogue camera, but he still used the iPhone to snap pictures for daily ‘good morning’ WhatsApp messages to his friends.

Objectifs outreach director Ryan Chua, who worked closely with Foo on his 2024 solo, was struck by how much younger photographers looked up to him. The 2024 exhibition drew over 2,000 visitors.

“He was so even-tempered and it was always nice to be around him. Humble even though he has achieved so much, he is someone whose presence quietly shaped and grounded our photographic community.”

Foo’s wake is at the Singapore Funeral Parlour till Feb 22.