A Thinking Street Photography Site
Whenever we’re in Singapore, my children get to attend school there. So they get to see their classmates in Singapore once a year, for a few weeks.
This area is near my daughter’s school.
The reds and greens interact nicely.
So yes, it’s good to carry a film camera wherever I go.
I spent a few mornings thinking about colours and composition.
Things make sense here.
This is everyday Singapore.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
Finally, I’m holding the book in my hands.
It’s called Dreaming Cities, and it’s a collection of poetry and street photography.
Here’s the blurb: “In this book, poems and street photographs dream of the modern city, laying a poetic geography over the urban landscapes of Hong Kong and Singapore.”
It’s been fun working with Math Paper Press, my publisher.
They’re a pretty happening group – Math Paper Press is an imprint of BooksActually, the bookstore to go to if you’re interested in Singaporean literature and art scene.
They work with Sarah and Schooling, the graphic design studio responsible for the design of MPP’s gorgeous books.
As any book lover knows, a book is a tactile object. It has to look, feel and smell right.
Math Paper Press and Sarah and Schooling know their stuff.
Things as they are…
A gate is always a promise.
Perhaps a promise of bigger things to come.
Something here.
A hint of bigger things there…
And something may blossom.
All it takes is a bit of introspection…
A possible vision here…
And a revision there.
This is the last of four related pieces, after Mundane Objects, Common Things, and Everyday Things.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
These are things I see on a daily basis.
James Elkins: “When we are confronted with an unfamiliar object … we seek a body in it; we try to see something like ourselves…” (The Object Stares Back, p. 129)
I see, therefore I am.
This is my mind, even if it’s only for a while.
Sometimes I feel like this.
Mostly though, I’m like this.
This is a third companion piece, after Mundane Objects and Common Things.
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
This is just a follow up from my previous post, Mundane Objects.
There’s always an exhibition waiting to happen.
Things discarded, things poetic.
To look is to give it meaning.
A regulation of things.
A potential.
A hint.
Something.
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
I’m taking a break from street photography to look at mundane stuff.
Stuff our eyes don’t normally focus on.
But they do create an environment of sorts.
Repeat something enough and it becomes a life.
Pavements can be interesting.
Stuff lying around.
There’s an order of things here.
A call to discipline.
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
It never ends – this appreciation for a more laid-back lifestyle.
It’s probably ideal, rather than actual.
Still, it’s worth keeping in mind.
We’re all tourists to this thought, this possibility.
It can be commercialized, of course.
There are those who buy the idea.
Those who consume it and are consumed by it.
We all gaze with a kind of desire.
It all makes sense when there’s a vendor.
Satiation.
Wants, desires and goods – a life that makes sense.
A meaning-making kind of sense.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
Some more thoughts of Cheung Chau.
One photograph, one thought.
It’s a nice local economy one could believe in.
It’s a personable economy.
A joyful economy.
Though sometimes you’d have to wait for a bit.
Public sculptures.
There’s time for a conversation.
Time to stroll.
Time to sort it all out.
It’s all very laid back.
Part of it is in shadow.
It’s not always peachy.
There’re always things to buy!
People to look at.
And a wall to lean on.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
On Cheung Chau island.
The atmosphere is rather relaxed.
One could dream of a life here.
It’s one of those possible doorways.
One could just stand here and admire the wall.
Lack of love?
An advertising and laundry space.
Very homely.
Though sometimes we could be in a hurry.
Oh I’m dreaming I’m dreaming of a slower pace of life.
Is it possible?
It is possible.
Maybe I’m romanticizing too much.
It’s a possibility, I suppose.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
There’s nothing like a short walk to get away from the city, even if it’s just for a bit.
We all need breaks.
A short climb.
Getting there.
So one could disappear.
There’s a haiku in there waiting to be written…
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
Hong Kong Lucida 