Just a hint of human presence.
Someone did this.
Placed these here.
Organised these.
Lived here.
Kept stuff here.
Where’s the owner?
Why this?
Tag: monochrome
Tai Po Market Area
That’s the bustling area near Tai Po Market MTR Station.
The trick I suppose with street photography is to find a place that is bustling and yet not too crowded so you could walk and stop comfortably without being too conspicuous.
Lots of metaphorical possibilities here.
Tree + building + bamboo scaffolding = Hong Kong!
Rectangular grids.
It’s a hot day.
A shredded plastic bag as leading line.
Yummy watermelons!
Longans!
Street exhibition.
Let the buildings speak.
Hard at work.
I managed to take all these shots before my Contax TVS II decided to call it a day. The shutters stuttered and died.
I’ve been to a few repair places and was told, well, that’s the story of vintage electronic film cameras. Sigh.
And guess what … it’s loaded with one of my few remaining rolls of the discontinued Kodak BW400CN.
Sigh.
Oh well … at least I have one more working TVS II and another TVS I…
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak BW400CN
Street Thoughts
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
Chinatown Moments
A history of the present…
The streets are clean.
Street tourism.
Somewhat in your face…
Street prayer…
Street fruit!
Street selfies…
Another history of the present…
Thanks for reading!
Buy my latest street photography and poetry book!
Camera: Olympus XA 3
Film: Ilford XP2
Cheung Chau Yet Again
It never ends – this appreciation for a more laid-back lifestyle.
It’s probably ideal, rather than actual.
Still, it’s worth keeping in mind.
We’re all tourists to this thought, this possibility.
It can be commercialized, of course.
There are those who buy the idea.
Those who consume it and are consumed by it.
We all gaze with a kind of desire.
It all makes sense when there’s a vendor.
Satiation.
Wants, desires and goods – a life that makes sense.
A meaning-making kind of sense.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
Cheung Chau Again
Some more thoughts of Cheung Chau.
One photograph, one thought.
It’s a nice local economy one could believe in.
It’s a personable economy.
A joyful economy.
Though sometimes you’d have to wait for a bit.
Public sculptures.
There’s time for a conversation.
Time to stroll.
Time to sort it all out.
It’s all very laid back.
Part of it is in shadow.
It’s not always peachy.
There’re always things to buy!
People to look at.
And a wall to lean on.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2
A Short Hike
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
The Management of Space in a Village
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
On Being Careless
To be interested in street photography is to be careless.
The above might look better if the boats were cut out of the photograph. The subject would be clearer.
But the eyes don’t always discriminate properly.
Found scenes are things as they are.
Boats and paths as they are.
A child as he is.
There’s an accommodation of sorts.
An ordering of nature.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
On Sense and Sensibility
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
Hong Kong Lucida 