Singapore Speaks Colour

Various scenes in Singapore – some iconic, others a little whimsical.

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Singapore the Garden City.

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Executives waiting for a bus. This was taken while I was in a bus.

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For the love of country.

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Country loving fashion.

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Looking up.

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He posed for me.

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The above and below few images are of workers who are maintaining a playground.

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They saw what I was doing, smiled, and gamely went on with their work.

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They were very thorough.

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They were tightening all the screws.

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And checking to see if everything is in order.

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That’s a chicken rice stall – the kind of food I go for whenever I am in Singapore.

This is part of the everyday Singaporean culture often take for granted.

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A sack of something on the pavement.

It makes for a wonderful art installation idea.

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Barrier – though I wonder what the triangular cut-outs are for.

 

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The durian.

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Lamp shade.

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That’s a partial rendering of the Marina Bay Sands, a tourist destination.

It reminds me of a Star Trek phaser.

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Rooftop facade of the Esplanade – also known as the durian.

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Swissotel the Stamford, designed by I.M. Pei.

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A construction worker taking a break at a public housing void deck.

 

For collectors: open-edition prints are available here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore’s Geylang Serai

This post is one month late (and eleven months early).

The photographs here were taken in late July, one or two days before Hari Raya Puasa, a religious festival celebrated by Malay Muslims in Singapore at the end of the fasting month.

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My wife decided we should join in the festivities and so here we were at Geylang Serai. We had a fantastic dinner.

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The lady who took our order.

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There was a long line in front of the cashier but it’s good as I got to take quite a few photographs.

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So yes, we were at the Kampong Cafe.

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Finally – the front of the queue.

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Yummy roti john!

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Yummy spicy shrimp rolls!

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I can’t figure out what she’s holding – it’s pastry…

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Yummy er … roti john?

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Yummy fried vadai!

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Yummy pancake!

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More vadai!

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It is really possible for one to be hungry again just after dinner.

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Yummy kebab!

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Food is meant to be eaten.

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Okay – this is my wife’s favorite part of the bazaar… lots of textiles.

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Lots of cloth frilly fabric-ish things…

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Dress things.

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He was carving a small figurine.

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A carpet auction in progress.

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Prices start at S$200.

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Very colourful drinks …

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Thanks for reading!

Check out my Saatchi Art page!

 

 

 

 

Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay

I finally visited Gardens by the Bay.

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Check out the cool-looking Supertrees which are vertical gardens.

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The above, I suppose, is an obligatory picturesque shot.

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It’s a good place for photographers.

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Lots of selfie moments.

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You don’t really need to think to get a good shot – there’s something to be said about the blending of technology and nature at this place.

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Picture-perfect convenient nature (if that’s what you like).

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We’re in Flower Dome, one of the 2 conservatories here.

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Mummy, daddy and baby cactus.

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Phallus cactus.

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Eagle photographer.

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Eager photographer.

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The future of tech and nature.

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That’s Cloud Forest, another conservatory.

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As I’m walking around, I can’t help but think perhaps this is the future of botany.

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Maybe in the next twenty years, we’ll all be living in domes like this.

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The temperature is nice though.

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That’s the mineral exhibit area. Guess how I took this shot.

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I’m a street photography genius…

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This takes a lot of work.

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Kudos to those who’ve put in the hard work to make this possible.

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Oops – my lens fogged up when I stepped out of the conservatory.

I love mistakes like this.

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I’m a nature photographer!

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This is a nice blend of botany, technology, architecture, commerce, tourism and nation building.

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A William Gibson quote: “The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.”

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Singapore Hawker Food

Hawker food!

It’s definitely one of those things overseas Singaporeans miss.

 

Here’s my routine whenever I’m back in Singapore:

Step one – in the morning, I’d dutifully go to the wet market, determined to buy some fresh vegetables.

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I’m determined to buy those fresh fish.

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I really want those fresh meat, yes. Good idea.

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And then I’ll buy the newspapers.

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Step two: I’ll soak in the atmosphere.

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I’ll then look at all those hawker food.

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Yummy pancake! You could have either coconut husk, red bean paste or peanut as your filling.

I usually buy one of each. It’s yummy breakfast/tea time/snack food.

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Rojak! That’s a fruit and veg salad concoction that manages to be sweet, sour and spicy all at the same time.

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A close-up of the rojak stall. It’s a good alternative snack.

You can see that at this point, my health diet plan starts to break down.

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Good breakfast food!

I actually look forward to waiting in front of a stall for my food to be ready – it allows me to loiter and wait for the perfect moment.

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Unhealthy thick noodle breakfast with sausages, chicken wings, potato wedges, etc etc.

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Noodle stall – we’re still at breakfast.

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That’s the fried butterfly, you tiao, salted bun, etc etc stall.

Good for brunch.

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We’re all waiting with our smartphones these days.

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Chicken rice! Good lunch idea.

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That’s where I buy my century egg porridge. Lunch.

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Killer prawn noodles! Dinner. That’s when I reach for my cholesterol pills.

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That’s just rice with a choice of dishes … the sweet and sour pork is usually the best of the lot. Dinner time!

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Yong tau foo! Where you choose your ingredients and noodles. I usually go for the dry thick yellow noodle with lots of sweet sauce.

(Again, my cholesterol pills would definitely come in handy.)

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The thing about yong tau foo – no matter what you choose, you can’t go wrong.

Ingredients for a wonderful dinner.

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There’s no such thing as the wrong kind of food…

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Fish ball noodles! Good supper food.

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Minced pork noodles! Is it tomorrow’s breakfast yet?

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Curry puffs! Goreng pisang (fried bananas)! Good night-time snack.

 

Oh and I’ll never forget to have some fruits.

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Fruits are important for a healthy diet…

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Work, Work, Work

I am back in Hong Kong after a 3-week break in Singapore.

I’ve 7-8 rolls of film and probably about 50 usable images from a digital camera. Am looking through the lot now.

In the meantime, here’re a few images that sum up my mood at this moment, even as I’m catching up with work.

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The 2 images above were taken in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, while the rest below are scenes from Shamshuipo.

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I’m tempted to say that these images represent the “can do” spirit of Hong Kong which accounts for its economic success.

On the other hand, we need to remember the harshness of the Gini coefficient that is operating here.

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The above 2 images represent a personal triumph.

This is one of 2-3 stalls along Apliu Street that sells vintage film cameras.

It’s difficult to take their pictures with stealth because every time I walk by, the stall owners’ film-camera-detection senses are alerted and they would look up at me (or my camera).

I walked by for the third time that day and managed to finally do it.

Thanks for reading, and check out my prints!

Street Talk

Further adventures of the Canon 40mm F2.8 STM pancake…

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The colour rendering is nice …

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It looks like my 600D has just been promoted from a lame rookie slr to a street camera.

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Happy happy joy joy.

I could go lomography-ish (like in the previous 2 images).

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Or be understated.

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The colours could be muted somewhat.

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Or they could be saturated.

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It could be wispy in the subway…

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Or real and gritty…

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It could be dreamy…

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We could fall into a trance …

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It could be leafy lemony ice cream green …

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Or we could come back to reality (though somewhat muted).

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Or it could be flamboyant…

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We’re all waiting on the street…

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Some day the street would make sense.

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On other days, the street is sneaky.

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It’s always work in progress.

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Everything is under construction.

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A blotch of colour here…

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A funereal shroud there…

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What am I doing?

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The street is asking.

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What’s driving you?

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The street does not answer.

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The answer is in your face.

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The answer just went on by.

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The answer is always somewhere else…

Let my portfolio talk some more…

 

Shanghai Digital

The images in my previous posts on Shanghai were made with film cameras.

I’ll go digital here, with a non-descript but able-bodied Canon 600D paired with that nifty-fifty (50mm, f 1.8 II) lens, which gives me an 80mm focal length with the 1.6x crop factor.

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80mm is a long reach for street photography, but it’s a good complement given the 35mm focal lengths of my Olympus XA2 and Minolta AFC, and the Summicron 50mm of my Leica M6.

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And 80mm means I’m far away enough for the shutter sound to be inaudible.

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The above were taken at a shopping mall in Shanghai known as Raffles City.

Fellow Singaporeans would recognize that name, because there’s a Raffles City in Singapore too.

The one in Shanghai is owned/developed by CapitaLand, the real estate company based in Singapore. I almost feel at home here, surrounded by many Singapore retail shops/brands.

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Let’s not forget there’s a Gini coefficient at work here too…

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A fellow tourist on an open-air double decker bus.

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Intriguing cables against historical architecture.

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Some more cables against building windows.

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People waiting for a bus.

The next seven images were taken by my ten-year-old son.

He wanted a go at street photography and I asked him to focus only on 2 things as an assignment of sorts. One, “try to fill the frame” and two, “make sure they’re doing something”.

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As you can see, my son is very talented – it’s in the genes… 😉

He’ll inherit all my cameras one day… (he’s been asking about that Leica M6).

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Lots of potential here on a rainy day.

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This is street photography from a cab.

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Nice rainy red flare.

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Watch out!

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We survived and went to a museum.

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A very distinguished-looking man.

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I like the colors here.

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In front of a gigantic goldfish tank.

Thanks for dropping by, and don’t forget to check out my Saatchi Art page!

 

 

 

 

Shanghai: Bargain Hunting at Laojie

Time to go bargain hunting!

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This is Shanghai Laojie (Old Street), a touristy area with lots of “specialty shops” selling various Oriental stuff.

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The light was no good (this was just after a drizzle on a really cloudy day), so my poor Olympus XA2 with Fuji Superia 800 was stretched to its limits.

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I’m probably forgiving myself too much, but some of the images have a soft-focus painterly look that nonetheless grows on me.

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Check out the goods.

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I was looking at one of the shirts in a store and the shopkeeper said to me (in English) it’s made of really exquisite material, at only 360RMB.

I nodded and said I would think about it (in Mandarin/Putonghua) and walked away, only to be told two steps later that it’s 180RMB.

I said I’ll think about it.

And she said “Ok, ok, 100RMB final offer. If you don’t believe me, go to the other shops to compare prices and you’ll see this is the best price you’ll get.”

I said I’ll indeed take a quick look at the other shops and she said, “ok, ok – 90 RMB.”

So I bought two.

I’m an expert negotiator, you see. (This was one of those rare moments when my wife was very impressed with me.)

I basically brought the price down from RMB360 to RMB90. (I now suspect the price could have been lowered further.)

I think that at this place, they’re selling generic stuff (from the same suppliers/factories) that can be found at every other shop, and they know that you know.

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Hmm…

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Yummy traditional snacks!

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A shop specializing in chopsticks.

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Another one specializing in Oriental curios.

Thanks for stopping by, and please do check out my Saatchi Art page for open edition prints.

 

 

Shanghai Colours

My previous post was of Shanghai in monochrome, using my Minolta AF-C with Ilford XP2 400 film.

This is my Olympus XA2 talking, speaking the language of Fuji Superia 800.

These 2 cameras with the respective films are my favorite double combo.

We’re still at Huashan Street and its vicinity.

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I’m quite proud of this, with the reds at the bottom left as a counterweight to the rest of the image.

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The papers fell off and he basically made a U-turn and stopped to pick them up.

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Yes, a feisty lauwai (aka gweilo/angmoh/expat/foreigner) who has adapted to Shanghai and its traffic.

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Taking a break.

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He glared at me.

I said “ni hao” (hello/how are you) and smiled and he rolled his eyes and looked away.

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Yay! Three modes of transport in a single image.

I can’t decide whether it’s a small scooter or an electric bicycle…

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She glared at me for a bit. So I bowed slightly, smiled and hastened off.

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Children being children.

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Fashionable Shanghai.

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Hard at work.

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Waiting.

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Yummy street food! (Resist I must.)

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I like the redness of the car and his T-shirt.

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A security kiosk with my reflection.

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The other side of the kiosk (and my reflection).

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An alleyway – I like this a lot as it looks rather painterly to me.

Some of the images here are available at my Saatchi Art page as affordable open edition prints. Do check it out.

 

Purchasing Schemes

Again we choose.

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We decide.

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We look.

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Hmm…

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That one! Yes!

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This is the season.

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We’re in season.

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We stop to think.

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And buy wisely.

All images are taken with my stealthy Contax TVS II with Ferrania Solaris 400 film.

For collectors: some images here are available as open edition affordable prints at my Saatchi Art page.

Thanks for reading!