Singapore-born, New York-based photographer John Clang believes that the best photographs are more than just pretty pictures. Instead, they present realities of life in an in-your-face, engrossing fashion that reels in our surroundings and underscores the coinciding grandeur and weirdness of it all.

Clang, who was born Ang Choon Leng, gleaned his handle in 1990 from his National Service badge, which read “C L Ang.” He consciously weaves his heart and soul into his work and is unafraid of collage and layering, utilizing a John Stezaker-like technique that adds depth. Recently, in a meditation on his physical separation from his family back in Singapore, he devised a brilliant solution to bring them together in a photograph. He has the family in one location log onto Skype, while the other family members stand before a white wall. Clang projects the Skype image onto the wall and snaps a photo, making for fascinating portraits that bring generations and countries together in real time. For more Skype portraits, see Clang’s profile in the New York Times.