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
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
Here’s a mishmash of images of Singapore, significant to myself.
Though the underlying theme here is about how we try to snatch something beautiful out of what is essentially functional.
Form follows function in much of Singapore.
Life, too, follows function: poetry is a luxury we cannot afford.
There is one way only. The rest is barred.
If you live with it long enough, it becomes beautiful.
Draw the curtains.
Poetry delayed is poetry denied.
We are at the zoo.
The helpful tram driver and a passenger.
After the animal show – poetry is found after the event.
Reflections in the MRT.
The tree is obedient, bent in the wind.
Perhaps something is poetry after all…
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander 35mm f 1.4 Nokton SC
Film: Ilford XP2
At the zoo in Singapore with my son.
We did a double photo combo, with my 10-year-old son holding the Canon 600D with a 40mm f 2.8 STM lens and I holding my Leica M6. I’ll post my photographs another day.
All photos here, except for the elephant shot, were by my son.
On the way to the zoo, he found the water droplets at the back of a bus interesting.
He’s developing a good visual sense, I must say.
Nice monkey.
Nice erm … plant thingey.
Looking up to see itself.
Nice fishes.
A very charming gentleman.
Nice big mole.
I waited for a while before everything came together in this shot.
I told my son to wait till all the necks were parallel with one another.
Would have been better if they were between the trees in contrast with the background.
A horse (pony?) sticking its neck out.
Feed the goats!
My son was fascinated by the polar bear show.
It’s a powerful looking bear. We were told polar bears weigh only about 350 grams at birth.
This is grace.
Power.
Determination.
When I grow up I want to be a polar bear.
I’ve lived in Hong Kong long enough such that I could see Singapore with a fresh set of eyes.
Some of the buildings have become rather futuristic.
And public housing flats are beginning to look very homely.
Singapore is home, a comfortable grid.
We’re all fitted into grids.
Nice looking public housing.
Was at Hard Rock Café with my family.
An amazing acoustic set – it’s nice to listen to local acts with my wife… while trying to get our children to eat their broccoli.
The HRC I know were Saturday clubbing nights, 2 decades ago.
As I looked around at the various tables, I saw expat families with kids, tourists and middle-class locals out for dinner.
Times have changed – or perhaps I have changed.
Once upon a time, I wanted to be a rock star with my acoustic guitar.
The lyric he’s singing: “I’m all about that bass, about that bass, about that bass…”
Subsequent serious research (Google and Wikipedia) tells me it’s really a very cool song.
Now, I see HRC as an F&B outlet using rock music as a marketing tool, reaching out to customers like me who’ve come of age with the likes of GnR, Bon Jovi and Skid Row.
Perhaps I’m getting older and more cynical.
Still – it’s good to be young and idealistic.
HRC still looks impressive.
The colour is wonderful.
Orchard Road is gearing up for Christmas.
Hilton façade with a dash of nature.
A Martian landscape in full colour.
Equally interesting in monochrome.
It’s nice to be young…
An empty bus looks somewhat disturbing, like an unfulfilled promise.
This looks better – all blurry and full of promise.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Lydith 30mm f. 3.5
Hong Kong Lucida 