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
A good rule is worth breaking once in a while.
There’s a quote attributed to Robert Capa that if your photos aren’t good enough, it’s because you aren’t close enough.
Hence, the usual advice is to go for 28mm or 35mm lenses.
But hey, sometimes it’s worth doing the opposite, just to see what happens.
You look for colours.
You look for grids.
Blocky rectangular grids.
There’s a story waiting to happen.
On another day at Central.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Kodak Ultramax 400
Behold the Canon Prima Twin S!
There’s 2 lenses here – the 38mm and 70mm.
I figure it would be useful for street photography from 2 different distances.
These are views from the escalators at Central.
That’s Gage Street.
Things get grungy here.
It gets blurry – though I’d rather like the painterly effect.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Kodak Ultramax 400
Yellow and red go well together.
There’s something about film photography which gives that saturated look.
That blue is nostalgia blue.
White is off-white.
There are many colours along the street.
The street may look back at you.
Though you may try to be unobtrusive.
That’s the beauty of the street.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA3
Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
Some more things to look at.
The light is not enough.
Beautiful things on offer.
We look and look.
A life display.
Things on offer.
We wait for a sale.
And still we’re wondering if it all makes sense.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Olympus XA3
Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
Hong Kong Lucida 