A Thinking Street Photography Site
That’s the courtyard between the 2 main exits of Raffles Place MRT station.
Lunchtime – that funny, in-between time that is part-leisure, part-work, part-consumption.
People relaxing.
Waiting.
Posing.
Catching up.
Having a smoke break.
All caught up and immersed in the ever-present, not too far away from a reminder from history, of how times have changed and will change again.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2
Lots of street shots to do with construction workers.
Quite literally, these are the people who built Singapore.
I grew up in Singapore, and even to me, the heat is too much at times.
So yes, this is hard work.
These were taken at various places.
The scenes are ubiquitous.
Singapore depends a lot on foreign labour.
Working behind the scenes.
So we have these.
Camera: Olympus XA 2
Film: Agfa Vista 400
I was in Penang recently with my family and many of the street pictures were taken with my Olympus XA 2, in-between vacation shots taken with my Canon 600D.
The above was taken while riding a trishaw.
Another shot, taken from a trishaw.
The Gurney Drive street food market was where we found ourselves on most days.
Fried oyster!
Yummy!
Lok lok!
Laksa!
That’s the “Chinese rojak” stall.
That’s the Indian rojak stall.
Sotong kangkong!
So yes, street food was on the top of our list at Penang.
Camera: Olympus XA 2
Film: Agfa Vista 400
That’s part of a performance: it’s the London edition of Singapore: Inside Out.
The street composes itself.
Young artists.
Rectangular grids are easy to do.
The street is its own art.
The people and the streets are one.
Respect the street.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
I’ve set a challenge for myself – to do tourism slightly differently.
It’s a way of not spending money.
Go to touristy sites and look at tourists.
Turn that obligatory landmark photo into a street photograph.
And then suddenly, everyday life becomes intriguing.
Quiet moments are especially beautiful.
You could still be a tourist in the Tube.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2
An Olympus XA2 is light, small and discreet.
I’d raise it to my eye and no one would notice.
Even if they do notice, people would be less likely to react, compared to if you point at them with a gigantic Canon 5D Mark III.
You could capture people and their environment – the lens is wide enough.
There’s the interaction between person and space.
Its convenience cannot be overemphasized – a matter of pulling the camera out of your cargo pants pocket when the opportunity presents itself.
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
There’s a blindness to the streets we need to learn to see.
There’s the individual, and there’s society.
The street looks back.
We negotiate the streets.
We work the streets.
We refresh the streets.
The street is at rest.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
Never turn your back on the street.
Some streets are for sale.
Other streets are for friends.
Streets are for hanging around.
There’s a street attitude to tease out.
You’ll never know who is looking from the street.
Some streets are nicer.
Some streets are more equal than others.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
There’re no real aims to street photography.
You walk, you see, you shoot and hope it makes visual sense.
It gives one something to do – one could be a tourist in a way as to avoid a degree of manufactured experience.
Go to all the tourist spots – but go at it from a tangent.
Sometimes you wonder why there’s so much of sitting around.
At other times you see there’s another way of seeing – capturing the London Eye without capturing the London Eye.
One could pretend to be a tourist and not stand out from the crowd.
Perhaps there’s such a thing as visual addiction.
By doing street photography, one commits to a certain way of being in the world.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Ilford XP2 400
Hong Kong Lucida 
