A Thinking Street Photography Site
We’ll need to slow down.
We can’t think like skyscrapers.
We need to dwell a little bit.
Take a walk.
Sometimes to be inane is to make sense.
A certain order at a certain time.
Think good thoughts.
Let a thousand thoughts flourish.
So we need a better government of our selves.
So as not to run aground.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
There’s so much to see.
And street photography forces one to stop and be grateful.
We’re often framed by things we buy and sell.
There’s a tale of capitalism waiting to be told.
We give in to what we want.
Our appetites.
There’re always boxes to open.
Things to sell.
People to talk to.
There’s money to be made.
Conversations to have.
And there’s the wait.
Wholesome food.
Fabric of a city.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
So, my ten-year-old son is into Geocaching.
It’s basically a game where you hunt for hidden caches – you could then sign your name in the booklet in those canisters/boxes hidden or buried in various places in Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
We’ve found magnetic canisters stuck behind signposts, or hidden under piled-up logs full of ants and spiders.
You could then announce your success to the whole world and leave a few clues via the Geocache app.
So you see, it’s killing two birds with one stone.
I get to do a spot of street photography, and my son gets to do a bit of geocaching.
That’s what I call father-son bonding.
It doesn’t matter where I go as long as I’m on the streets.
We could meander and come back to the same place – it doesn’t matter.
Some people fish, others are into street photography, and of course, some are into geocaching.
And we’ll have a late lunch after a morning of running back and forth.
I suppose it’s another day in Hong Kong.
We do what we can to preserve our sanity…
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
It’s that existential condition, of always searching, waiting and thinking.
We can only have images of ourselves.
The glimmer is often only a few steps away.
Thanks for stopping by today.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: 50mm Summicron Type II
Film: Ilford XP2
I’m a bit of a maximizer (as opposed to a satisficer) when it comes to choosing/doing things.
I try to find out all there is to know before making a decision.
When it comes to execution, I try to go through the various steps in my mind in order to get everything right beforehand.
Which is why zone focusing and street photography is such a re-creation for me.
We’re working with a circumference of acceptability.
Is good enough good enough? There’s motion blur here which adds to the sense of movement.
I was close enough, but it doesn’t mean I could see clearly.
And if we don’t always notice everything around us, why should we demand a photography that sees everything accurately and in sharp focus?
On the other hand, how much loosening up can one do before one loses discipline?
There’s a spectrum here, between trying to get everything clinically right and hence losing the moment and operating without some sort of discipline, as if one is holding a camera for the first time.
Sometimes, good enough is good enough in street photography.
Try to get everything right and one might lose the “street”.
There’s that tendency to overthink and hence lose the art.
On the other hand, one must possess discipline in order to lose it.
So my job is to learn everything I can, and then forget all I have learnt.
Imperfection is an art in itself.
And so is perfection.
And perhaps art is about improvising and about knowing how to move back and forth between perfection and imperfection.
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Summicron 50mm Type II
Film: Ilford XP 2
Shamshuipo, as you can see, is my other haunt.
There’s enough bustle for street photographs.
The colours can be interesting too. The red and green combo is nice.
He didn’t even notice me.
In contemplation.
I was testing out a generic rectangular lens hood on my lens to make sure there wasn’t any vignetting.
This is one of two flea market stalls selling film cameras.
It’s a low volume high flow business. The offerings change every week.
Occasionally, you could see a few Leicas. I saw an X Pro 1 here once…
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: SMC Takumar 35mm f 3.5
Given an ISO 400 film, if the light is good, I’d simply set the aperture to f/16 and shutter to between 1/60, 1/125, or 1/250 depending on whether I’m in the shade.
The f/16 aperture would allow for a broad depth of field, which allows me to zone focus with a wide latitude.
The whole procedure sounds complicated, but it’s for me the mid-point between going fully auto with a point and shoot camera, and going fully manual and getting all finicky and missing the moment.
It allows me to work intuitively and be disciplined at the same time – that’s the flow state I look for, whether I’m teaching, writing or on the streets with my camera.
I’m at Wu Kai Sha beach – yet again.
All images are from the same roll of film, all taken within an hour or so.
I like the word “take”. To take a photograph is to take something from the world you see.
There’s a contemplative and leisurely mood here I’d like to immerse myself in.
It’s nice to see people relax and do nothing in particular.
Like a frame with nothing at the centre, because the image is the frame.
My favourite street photography trick is to start whistling – people will look at me for a bit while my camera is pointing elsewhere and then ignore me after that.
They’ll think I’m a normal person… though the guy above wasn’t quite convinced…
At other times, they’re too involved with their own thing to notice.
I’d like to think that every photograph I take is an image of myself.
Sometimes there’s no need for explanations – it just is.
It’s a way of life – this awesome village house faces the beach.
We all have our journeys to make.
I wish I understand jogging.
I’m learning to look for patterns.
Looking for moments of insight.
We wait.
We’re on the lookout.
We look at ourselves.
We think some more.
Our pigeon thoughts will lead the way.
The pigeons are lining up in my mind.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Summicron Type II 50mm
Film: Ilford XP2 400
Again at Sham Shui Po.
Life follows function.
The buildings are useful for nostalgia.
Though they’re still here.
Bodies crammed between buildings.
A selection of goods.
At the butcher’s.
Chinese foodstuff.
Frenetic energy.
Bustle.
Check out the lap cheong (Chinese dried sausages)!
Yummy.
A window reflects.
Work in progress.
Still building.
Renewal and construction.
A tree trunk is tamed.
Shroud on building.
A conference.
A building pushes.
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: SMC Takumar 35mm f 3.5
All images were taken with one camera on a single roll of film on the same day.
Fare well, Occupy Central.
At Causeway Bay.
Freedom under watch.
At Admiralty.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
An early Christmas for Occupy Central at Causeway Bay.
Fare well.
People are packing.
Amidst Christmas sale.
Installation with steel resolve.
Imagine what might have been.
Freedom under the eye of the clock.
At Admiralty.
Unpoetic translation: even if there’s disappointment, one cannot lose hope.
There’s a time to pack up.
A time to plant fresh hope.
A time to remember.
Time to take stock.
Sacrifice.
Hope.
Restrain.
Hunger strike zone.
Merry Christmas Occupy Central.
The central government offices are overwritten with desire.
Home is Hong Kong.
A time to build up.
A time to let go.
A time for nostalgia.
Merry Christmas Occupy Central.
Fare well.
Fare well.
Photos in previous posts have been featured in the following literary journal articles:”Whither Hong Kong?“, Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: Four Poems” and “The Umbrellas and the Tear Gas“.
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: SMC Takumar 35mm f 3.5
Hong Kong Lucida 