A Thinking Street Photography Site
At the TST waterfront.
A bubby tent thing for kids I think.
Dreamy hazy glow.
Cultural Centre with a ghostly look…
A clearer view of the waterfront.
Where are we going?
The ice cream mobile.
The obligatory Orientalist shot of Chinese junk ship sail.
Watch your step!
Buskers … argh … someone’s finger got in the way. Still, I think it’s nicely flawed.
Nice architecture.
Time to walk …
Compositions like these are strangely satisfying …
It’s not difficult.
But the lines seem to be exerting a kind of tension.
Everyone’s in a hurry.
Rush rush rush.
Quick, quick.
She’s sauntering…
Time to slow down…
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
So here’s TST at night.
Everyone has a place to get to.
Spotted.
Someone’s waiting.
Someone’s looking.
Someone’s packing.
Someone’s unloading.
Boxes that have lost their purpose.
The mannequins and model are more alive than actual people.
We’re all shadows in a cave of our own making.
When streets are busy, they look like this:
No one notices the guy with the camera:
People are too preoccupied:
Work work work.
Sell sell sell.
Buy buy buy.
Go go go.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Agfa Vista 400
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
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
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
Hong Kong Lucida 