What to do.
We are our environment.
Supplicants.
Covered in light and shadow.
To and fro.
Heavy news every day.
We carry on.
Tag: work
Corporate Cliches
We need to avoid doing the same thing and look out for or even create the next paradigm shift.
We need to think about how we can add value to our work.
It’s all about win-win.
What’s our ROI on this?
We need to think outside the box here.
This is inevitable – it’s because of creative destruction.
We need to synergize our mission and vision.
Let’s pluck the low-hanging fruit for now and circle back to this discussion later.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak BW400CN
Mindful Platitudes with Street Photography
What is the next step on the journey?
Where should one go?
What is your work building up to?
Is it all in vain?
Am I willing to own my mess and work with it?
Perhaps there’s a need to sit down in the midst of things and regroup.
Illumination can only emerge where there is darkness.
You’ll find your own way.
Look for the good stuff.
And wait until it all becomes meaningful.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak BW400CN
Street Photography at Central, Hong Kong
I was at Central with about an hour to kill before a lunch meeting.
Coincidentally, of course, I had my Canon 600D with a 40mm / f 2.8 STM lens.
I really like the above, with its three partitions.
I thought I’d try my hand at street photography from a distance.
Street photography with an urban landscape component.
I walked up and down the Central Escalators for a bit.
I feel I have more time to think about the background.
The background is the foreground.
Another urban landscape-ish skyline shot.
Lots of people are hard at work in the sun.
That’s a really big camera.
Working hard.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Lens: Canon 40mm F 2.8 STM
All that Labour
All that labour.
Those goods on display.
Yummy stuff.
Sometimes we don’t see all the work that goes into work.
We negotiate a life.
And a city emerges.
It’s bigger than us.
The labour of thinking.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2 400
Street Photography and Human Presence
Must we have people in street photography?
Or is the mere suggestion of human presence enough?
I’ve grown to appreciate the poetry of things.
So as to be on the lookout for stories to tell.
There’s a poetics of space here.
There’s a story of workmanship here waiting to be told.
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?
Work, work, work.
The labour of mobility.
So that we know the weight of things.
The signpost of a neighbourhood.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 SC
Film: Kodak BW400CN
Work Ethic
Hong Kong people work very hard.
You could attribute it to culture.
Or you could attribute it to the nature of an economy that drives its people.
We are our work.
Work teaches us to be.
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
Singapore Local Culture
This is culture as lived experience:
An ordinary life that is the subject of street photography.
Every year I return to Singapore for a period and some things don’t change.
The kacang puteh man is still there (there’s another photo of him in a post a year ago).
I tried another shot and he spotted me.
A cobbler.
And another cobbler.
I stopped to buy my son an ice cream.
When doing street photography, bring along your child – you’ll look less conspicuous that way.
See? This guy actually smiled at my son and I.
I look like I’m helping my son with a school project…
My son dared me to take a picture of him up close – and I did.
And he pointed to them and said it would make a nice photograph – so I obliged.
He didn’t think the above would work – I think he’s right.
And he said the cyclist was looking the wrong way … again he’s right.
“Why did you take a picture of that building, daddy? Is that considered street photography?”
Good question.
I thought the tie fluttering in the air might make this interesting.
He was trying to tack something onto the wood paneling and looked somewhat frustrated – I caught that moment.
That’s life – always under construction.
Thanks for reading.
Check out my open-edition prints at my Saatchi Art page!
Work, Work, Work
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!
Many Hong Kongs
These are images taken with the same camera (Minolta AF-C), with a single roll (Fuji Neopan 400CN), over a week or two.
There’re just so many environments, and so many stories waiting to be told.
There’s the early riser.
The joy of a youthful busker.
The necessities of life: public laundry.
There’s discipline and teamwork.
Political consciousness.
Work.
And work.
(For collectors: open edition prints from this post are available here.)
Hong Kong Lucida 