Tag: street photography

Street Photography and Human Presence

Posted on by eddietay in Monochrome

Must we have people in street photography?

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Or is the mere suggestion of human presence enough?

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I’ve grown to appreciate the poetry of things.

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So as to be on the lookout for stories to tell.

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There’s a poetics of space here.

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There’s a story of workmanship here waiting to be told.

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What sort of obstruction is being prohibited? Are the owners of those chairs obstructing access to the door prohibiting obstructions to the chairs? Isn’t the sign itself obstructing access to those chairs?

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Work, work, work.

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The labour of mobility.

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So that we know the weight of things.

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The signpost of a neighbourhood.

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC

Film: Kodak BW400CN

 

Work Ethic

Posted on by eddietay in Monochrome

Hong Kong people work very hard.

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You could attribute it to culture.

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Or you could attribute it to the nature of an economy that drives its people.

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We are our work.

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Work teaches us to be.

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To do otherwise is a privilege most can’t afford.

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC

Film: Kodak BW400CN

Art of Buying

Posted on by eddietay in Monochrome

These are poses we adopt.

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We pause.

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We think.

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Should I?

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I want! I want!

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Do I need this?

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We have an expertise.

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We need a poultice.

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I need this.

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I want this.

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Yum.

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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

Changing Views

Posted on by eddietay in Monochrome

The geometry keeps changing.

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Hong Kong is a good place to be a flaneur.

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Take a step and the view changes itself.

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Lots to absorb.

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You could stand at the same spot.

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The landscape will change very quickly.

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It’s easy to enjoy the view.

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You seek out order to square the circles.

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Hong Kong will come to you.

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And so will the rest of the world.

 

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC

Film: Ilford XP2 400

How We Live with Concrete

Posted on by eddietay in Monochrome

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.

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You could also see unruly leaves and branches against grey concrete buildings.

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They’re part of human activity.

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Things happen, though they don’t always announce themselves.

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Life is understated sometimes.

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At other times, it is in your face.

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This is how concrete lives.

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How we live with concrete.

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The unruly beauty of nature and concrete.

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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

 

Visions and Revisions (2 of 2)

Posted on by eddietay in Colour

We look again.

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We are on a quest.

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Where are the keys to our lives?

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We look up.

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We look again.

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Sometimes we do not look.

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We’re too involved in ourselves.

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And then you’re challenged by a look.

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You look elsewhere.

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Anything to recompose yourself.

 

Camera: Contax TVS II

Film: Fuji Superia 400

 

 

 

Visions and Revisions (1 of 2)

Posted on by eddietay in Colour

I happened to chance on a folder I tucked away a few months back.

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I remember not being satisfied with the pictures.

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I though the colours were a bit off.

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Then I looked again and decided they’re pretty okay after all.

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This is Hong Kong.

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This is Hong Kong.

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This is Hong Kong.

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Sometimes a door opens.

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And we see ourselves as we truly are.

 

Camera: Contax TVS II

Film: Fuji Superia 400

 

 

Thingification

Posted on by eddietay in Colour

What happens when you choose not to place people at the centre of things?

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It’s a bit unsettling when humans are placed at the periphery.

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We cannot help but still do so – the above is still a photograph about human activity.

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Keyboards are for hands, pedals for feet.

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We love our things.

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We frame ourselves with things.

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We wait for things.

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We work with things.

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We are things.

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Some things out-wait us.

 

 

Camera: Spotmatic F

Lens: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 35mm F 3.5

Film: Fujifilm Superia Venus 800