A Thinking Street Photography Site
We’ve about 2 hours to kill, so what better way to do it and get a bit of mild exercise than to go hiking, from our village to the next.
The theme of the day – rustic beauty. Debris at a nearby beach.
The colours are nice.
Up the steps.
Light at the end of the path.
Car, abandoned.
Nice green window.
Window and scarred wall of an abandoned village house.
Discarded electrical board.
Village road sign.
Nice open view.
Bye bye village!
Things as they are…
A gate is always a promise.
Perhaps a promise of bigger things to come.
Something here.
A hint of bigger things there…
And something may blossom.
All it takes is a bit of introspection…
A possible vision here…
And a revision there.
This is the last of four related pieces, after Mundane Objects, Common Things, and Everyday Things.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
These are things I see on a daily basis.
James Elkins: “When we are confronted with an unfamiliar object … we seek a body in it; we try to see something like ourselves…” (The Object Stares Back, p. 129)
I see, therefore I am.
This is my mind, even if it’s only for a while.
Sometimes I feel like this.
Mostly though, I’m like this.
This is a third companion piece, after Mundane Objects and Common Things.
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
This is just a follow up from my previous post, Mundane Objects.
There’s always an exhibition waiting to happen.
Things discarded, things poetic.
To look is to give it meaning.
A regulation of things.
A potential.
A hint.
Something.
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
I’m taking a break from street photography to look at mundane stuff.
Stuff our eyes don’t normally focus on.
But they do create an environment of sorts.
Repeat something enough and it becomes a life.
Pavements can be interesting.
Stuff lying around.
There’s an order of things here.
A call to discipline.
Camera: Canon Prima Twin S
Film: Fuji Superia Venus 800
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
We’re all very space conscious in Hong Kong.
Everyone is watchful.
Are windows for looking in or looking out?
We’re mindful of where not to go.
We know where we are at all times.
Even nature has discipline.
A tree bends to seek a path.
A home is both inside and outside.
Storage space is outside.
A home is a store.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Venus 800
Sometimes, we need to disappear into that rabbit hole.
To an alternative Hong Kong.
Where you could walk at your own pace and not worry about obstructing others on a crowded pavement.
You could take your time (and not have it taken away from you).
You could just stay put.
Have some peace of mind.
And mental space.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Fuji Venus 800
Sometimes I don’t know where I am.
This place is accessible via a walking or biking trail.
And you get to see a sinking village house.
My wife organizes these day trips for the family and I simply tag along… I’m fortunate that way.
I’ll go anywhere as long as there’re things to see.
I know for sure this is somewhere in Yuen Long.
And the village is accessible only via a boat.
It’s another way of life.
It’s a “can do” DIY attitude I need to learn.
He saw my camera but basically ignored me and went on with his work.
I’m trying to improve my Chinese.
Assuming I got that right, it says “the only human-operated bumboat in the whole of Hong Kong, from 6am till 11pm”.
My set up for the day was a Contax TVS II loaded with Ilford XP2 400.
Thanks for reading!
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