A Thinking Street Photography Site
These are poses we adopt.
We pause.
We think.
Should I?
I want! I want!
Do I need this?
We have an expertise.
We need a poultice.
I need this.
I want this.
Yum.
Buying, after all, is an art we’re good at.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
A vision of the night.
There’s usually nothing to see.
Still, we try.
It’s a time for reflection.
We try to think.
We sit.
And rest.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2 400
The geometry keeps changing.
Hong Kong is a good place to be a flaneur.
Take a step and the view changes itself.
Lots to absorb.
You could stand at the same spot.
The landscape will change very quickly.
It’s easy to enjoy the view.
You seek out order to square the circles.
Hong Kong will come to you.
And so will the rest of the world.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2 400
I’m fascinated by what you could see when coming down the Mid-Levels Escalator at Central in Hong Kong.
You could see lots of small businesses, restaurants and shops.
You could also see unruly leaves and branches against grey concrete buildings.
They’re part of human activity.
Things happen, though they don’t always announce themselves.
Life is understated sometimes.
At other times, it is in your face.
This is how concrete lives.
How we live with concrete.
The unruly beauty of nature and concrete.
We can’t help but look again and again.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2 400
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
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
Shamshuipo, as you can see, is my other haunt.
There’s enough bustle for street photographs.
The colours can be interesting too. The red and green combo is nice.
He didn’t even notice me.
In contemplation.
I was testing out a generic rectangular lens hood on my lens to make sure there wasn’t any vignetting.
This is one of two flea market stalls selling film cameras.
It’s a low volume high flow business. The offerings change every week.
Occasionally, you could see a few Leicas. I saw an X Pro 1 here once…
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: SMC Takumar 35mm f 3.5
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.
Hong Kong Lucida 