street photography – Page 16

VivoCity Singapore

Posted on February 2, 2015January 31, 2015 by eddietay in Monochrome

I was in Singapore for a short working trip, presenting a paper called “The Poetics of Occupy Central – A Photo Essay” at an academic conference.

So of course I brought my camera along.

I spent an evening on my own, a day before wifey joined me at the hotel.

So of course I did the most natural thing that came to me – I pretended to be a tourist at VivoCity.

Darn – I can’t seem to fit a filter on my lens without it vignetting (see top corners).

It seems like my Voigtlander 35mm doesn’t like filters.

I’ve tried a B+W filter, and a Hoya filter as well. They both vignette.

I would be grateful for any advice from readers more knowledgeable than me in this respect.

Crowded shopping malls depress me.

There was a bridal fair – and you realize weddings are very regimental affairs.

Everyone (including myself) is searching for life’s defining moments in a cookie-cutter manner.

There’s a water park of sorts above the mall.

The feeling here is more carefree.

But such scenes are possible only because of the packed shopping crowd below.

They are paid for by all that buying and selling that happens below.

We all buy and sell in our cookie-cutter lives so as to achieve moments like the one above.

Of course, it’s not just Singapore or VivoCity that does this.

One could never be truly outside of VivoCity, even if one leaves.

Thanks for reading.

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Voigtlander 35mm F 1.4 Nokton SC

Film: Kodak Bw400CN

First Roll of Film from Spotmatic F (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on January 30, 2015January 27, 2015 by eddietay in Colour

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

First Roll of Film from Spotmatic F (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on January 27, 2015January 27, 2015 by eddietay in Colour

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

Slow Down

Posted on January 19, 2015January 12, 2015 by eddietay in Monochrome

We’ll need to slow down.

We can’t think like skyscrapers.

We need to dwell a little bit.

Take a walk.

Sometimes to be inane is to make sense.

A certain order at a certain time.

Think good thoughts.

Let a thousand thoughts flourish.

So we need a better government of our selves.

So as not to run aground.

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 SC

Film: Kodak BW400CN

A Tale of Capitalism

Posted on January 16, 2015January 12, 2015 by eddietay in Monochrome

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

Geocaching and Street Photography

Posted on January 12, 2015January 12, 2015 by eddietay in Monochrome

So, my ten-year-old son is into Geocaching.

It’s basically a game where you hunt for hidden caches – you could then sign your name in the booklet in those canisters/boxes hidden or buried in various places in Hong Kong and the rest of the world.

We’ve found magnetic canisters stuck behind signposts, or hidden under piled-up logs full of ants and spiders.

You could then announce your success to the whole world and leave a few clues via the Geocache app.

So you see, it’s killing two birds with one stone.

I get to do a spot of street photography, and my son gets to do a bit of geocaching.

That’s what I call father-son bonding.

It doesn’t matter where I go as long as I’m on the streets.

We could meander and come back to the same place – it doesn’t matter.

Some people fish, others are into street photography, and of course, some are into geocaching.

And we’ll have a late lunch after a morning of running back and forth.

I suppose it’s another day in Hong Kong.

We do what we can to preserve our sanity…

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4 SC

Film: Kodak BW400CN

Searching Waiting Thinking

Posted on January 9, 2015January 5, 2015 by eddietay in Monochrome

It’s that existential condition, of always searching, waiting and thinking.

We can only have images of ourselves.

The glimmer is often only a few steps away.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: 50mm Summicron Type II

Film: Ilford XP2

Loosening Up in Street Photography

Posted on January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 by eddietay in Monochrome

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

Posted on December 29, 2014December 25, 2014 by eddietay in Colour

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

Zone Focusing with the Leica M6

Posted on December 23, 2014December 23, 2014 by eddietay in Monochrome

Given an ISO 400 film, if the light is good, I’d simply set the aperture to f/16 and shutter to between 1/60, 1/125, or 1/250 depending on whether I’m in the shade.

The f/16 aperture would allow for a broad depth of field, which allows me to zone focus with a wide latitude.

The whole procedure sounds complicated, but it’s for me the mid-point between going fully auto with a point and shoot camera, and going fully manual and getting all finicky and missing the moment.

It allows me to work intuitively and be disciplined at the same time – that’s the flow state I look for, whether I’m teaching, writing or on the streets with my camera.

I’m at Wu Kai Sha beach – yet again.

All images are from the same roll of film, all taken within an hour or so.

I like the word “take”. To take a photograph is to take something from the world you see.

There’s a contemplative and leisurely mood here I’d like to immerse myself in.

It’s nice to see people relax and do nothing in particular.

Like a frame with nothing at the centre, because the image is the frame.

My favourite street photography trick is to start whistling – people will look at me for a bit while my camera is pointing elsewhere and then ignore me after that.

They’ll think I’m a normal person… though the guy above wasn’t quite convinced…

At other times, they’re too involved with their own thing to notice.

I’d like to think that every photograph I take is an image of myself.

Sometimes there’s no need for explanations – it just is.

It’s a way of life – this awesome village house faces the beach.

We all have our journeys to make.

I wish I understand jogging.

I’m learning to look for patterns.

Looking for moments of insight.

We wait.

We’re on the lookout.

We look at ourselves.

We think some more.

Our pigeon thoughts will lead the way.

The pigeons are lining up in my mind.

Thanks for reading!

Camera: Leica M6

Lens: Summicron Type II 50mm

Film: Ilford XP2 400

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