A Thinking Street Photography Site
I happened to chance on a folder I tucked away a few months back.
I remember not being satisfied with the pictures.
I though the colours were a bit off.
Then I looked again and decided they’re pretty okay after all.
This is Hong Kong.
This is Hong Kong.
This is Hong Kong.
Sometimes a door opens.
And we see ourselves as we truly are.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Fuji Superia 400
What happens when you choose not to place people at the centre of things?
It’s a bit unsettling when humans are placed at the periphery.
We cannot help but still do so – the above is still a photograph about human activity.
Keyboards are for hands, pedals for feet.
We love our things.
We frame ourselves with things.
We wait for things.
We work with things.
We are things.
Some things out-wait us.
Camera: Spotmatic F
Lens: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 35mm F 3.5
Film: Fujifilm Superia Venus 800
Wallace Stevens: “You have a blue guitar,/ You do not play things as they are.”
I suppose the whole point of the visual arts is to get us to see things as they otherwise are.
And perhaps be unlikely.
Wallace Stevens: “Things as they are/ Are changed upon the blue guitar.”
This is not a bicycle.
This is not a ladder.
These are not sacks waiting to be moved.
Things as they are not are directions and lines of force.
Things as they are not are relationships between lines, textures, and light.
With things as they are not, we learn the background of things.
Camera: Spotmatic F
Lens: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 35mm F 3.5
Film: Fujifilm Superia Venus 800
So – vision, shot precision, follow through.
As with weapons training (see previous post), so it is with street photography.
It’s giving me an insight as to what constitutes expertise.
There is expertise that comes with knowledge of the field – where you’re situated, what you have to offer in relation to what other people in your field have to offer, how it all fits in with what society (and the market) demands, and whether or not (or how) you would adjust to that demand.
Related to that, there’s the kind of expertise (i.e. skills) that can only come with painstaking preparation, training, multiple failures, as you move from naivete and self-ridicule to familiarity and finally (hopefully) to mastery.
It’s a journey from innocence to experience.
And with experience, hopefully, one could be innocent all over again.
You don’t truly master anything. As you can see, I’ve read my William Blake.
Do I dare disturb the universe? (I’m quoting T. S. Eliot here.)
The above gentleman spotted me right after I took the shot.
He put on his hat, walked right up to me, snarled, laughed, tapped my shoulder, and then walked away.
So naturally I felt compelled to carry on.
I stood at one spot and aimed at the wall.
I’m really not sure why I do things like this.
I suppose this is where art comes from.
Camera: Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic F
Lens: 24mm S-M-C Takumar F 3.5
Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
Holding a Spotmatic F reminded me of my first encounter with an M16 rifle.
Could something that felt so clunky really work?
After having learnt how to disassemble the rifle and put it back together, I felt no better.
It looked suspiciously uncomplicated – I actually understood how the rifle worked.
How could that clicking sound when I pull that trigger be taken seriously?
As I eventually discovered, after zeroing that rifle (aligning the sights to my eye for projectile accuracy) at a 300m range, it was powerful indeed, and not something to be taken lightly. I’ve never forgotten that feeling (and the recoil).
It’s the same with a camera – after all, it involves training, preparation, positioning, proper gripping, sighting and shooting.
And you’ll need to control your breathing to maximize shot accuracy.
The rifle (and camera) is supposed to be an extension of your self and will.
Did I mention I was a marksman in my previous life (2 decades ago)?
In case you think I’m some kind of gun-crazy nut, it’s actually a common experience, if you’re a combat-fit Singaporean male who had to do national service (30 months of it in my time).
As you can see, I’m sublimating all that weapons training, channelling it into street photography.
It’s all about vision, discipline and decision points.
You are what you shoot.
You are how you shoot.
Street photography, especially with film cameras, have taught me to respect mechanical tools and appreciate the history that came with them.
The evolution of Leica, Asahi Pentax, Voigtlander, and so on, is a history of modern life.
It is this history that gave us our Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivien Maier, Diane Arbus, Martin Parr, Bruce Gilden, etc.
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic F
Lens: S-M-C Takumar 24mm F 3.5
Film: Kodak UltraMax 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
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
The range of imagery in Hong Kong is breathtaking.
You look.
You think about things.
There’s a mental itch you can’t get to and a glimmer you’re aiming at.
When will Godot arrive? You look again.
At things we do.
At how we live.
Our ambitions.
The road not taken.
We have an apparatus for looking.
They look back.
This is something we look for.
Sincerity.
Attitude.
A kind of mental space.
We work and rework.
And hope everything comes together at the end.
Some images are available here as open-edition prints at my Saatchi Art page.
I am back in Hong Kong after a 3-week break in Singapore.
I’ve 7-8 rolls of film and probably about 50 usable images from a digital camera. Am looking through the lot now.
In the meantime, here’re a few images that sum up my mood at this moment, even as I’m catching up with work.
The 2 images above were taken in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, while the rest below are scenes from Shamshuipo.
I’m tempted to say that these images represent the “can do” spirit of Hong Kong which accounts for its economic success.
On the other hand, we need to remember the harshness of the Gini coefficient that is operating here.
The above 2 images represent a personal triumph.
This is one of 2-3 stalls along Apliu Street that sells vintage film cameras.
It’s difficult to take their pictures with stealth because every time I walk by, the stall owners’ film-camera-detection senses are alerted and they would look up at me (or my camera).
I walked by for the third time that day and managed to finally do it.
Thanks for reading, and check out my prints!
Hong Kong Lucida 