A Thinking Street Photography Site
It’s a simple idea – one I’ve used many times.
A simple wall with interesting texture.
A window.
And equally interesting people.
The composition takes care of itself.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander 35 Nokton 1.4 SC
Film: Venus 800
The thing with Shamshuipo is that one could walk slowly amongst pockets of crowds.
You could flow along comfortably.
Even if you stop, there’s space enough for you to do so.
So many people and things to look at.
Hope and dreams of finding a space.
The street belongs.
The street can disintegrate.
The street makes sense, if you keep looking.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander 35 Nokton 1.4 SC
Film: Venus 800
Street photography is about found action.
It’s when you realize the environment is a material you could draw from.
It’s arrested action.
There’re inadvertent art displays.
Someone positioned these just so.
The goods are guiding our eyes.
The entire environment is for consumption.
Colours are for sale.
Shoes are waiting.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Agfa Vista 400
I don’t want to over-intellectualize things, but after doing this for a few years now, I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, to take street photographs is to think on my feet.
When I came upon the above scene for example, I am reminded of how much culture depends on physical toil that is too often, invisible. We marvel at the Great Wall of China, at the pyramids in Egypt, and of course, there’s an invisible history of physical toil involved.
I like the way signs are re-appropriated for other purposes. The full-size image of an air hostess welcomes you into the shop, which is closed for lunch. I make it a point to come here every time I’m in Singapore, to check out some of those NATO watch straps.
The deployment of trees is part of the city’s architecture.
The trees frame the building. Living in the city, we tend to forget that it is ultimately nature that frames human activity.
Something we do every day, waiting at a pedestrian crossing. One of those insignificant yet ubiquitous experience that characterizes urban life which we tend to forget.
Thanks for reading!
Buy my latest street photography and poetry book!
Camera: Olympus XA 3
Film: Ilford XP2
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
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
It goes without saying that space is at a premium in Hong Kong.
This is true even in the more rural areas.
Things need to stay organized.
Nature needs to know its place.
Heidegger: “Everywhere everything is ordered to stand by, to be immediately at hand, indeed to stand there just so that it may be on call for a further ordering. Whatever is ordered about in this way has its own standing. We call it the standing-reserve.”
It’s all standing by.
Nothing is to be wasted.
It’s all about discipline.
Places to go, and places you can’t go.
All these structures are standing, even in our literal absence.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
What, really, is there to talk about when it comes to street photography?
In the end, we’re capturing our selves.
And the constraints that shape us.
Street photography is another way of thinking.
Another way of looking.
Sometimes the scene seems a bit bare.
Until one encounters a human figure.
The art is long and life so short.
In the meantime, my exhibition is still on-going – come by if you’re in the area.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
Here’re some photos of the exhibition opening and setup.
It’s nice of them to make available the exhibition posters and invitation cards as takeaways for guests.
My initial concern was the number of photographs (and hence the display boards) relative to the size of the venue but it turned out to be alright. It’s not too sparse and not too cramped.
I’m grateful to Prof. Victor Chan, Head of Chung Chi College, for opening the exhibition. He’s a composer and conductor and so understands what it means to be immersed in one’s art.
I got to read a few poems. Some of those photographs will be published alongside their accompanying poems in a related book project next year.
It’s a different feeling – having physical prints exhibited, as opposed to looking at images on a screen.
I did get into a few conversations about my choice of subjects.
I organized the photographs in terms of colour vs monochrome, as well as themes (rural, urban, indoors, outdoor, traffic, streets, etc).
I’d admit to feeling nervous when I saw a few people scrutinizing those prints closely…
The exhibition runs for a month and will close on 4th Dec 2015.
Do come by if you’re in the area!
Many thanks to R and K for taking the photos!
My gratitude to R and her colleagues for mounting those photos onto the boards!
Here’s the exhibition poster!
I’ll be reading a few poems at the opening ceremony (5th Nov 2015, 5pm) and some of the photographs with accompanying poems will appear in my forthcoming 2016 book. It’s open to public. Come by if you’re in the area!
Hong Kong Lucida 