Portraits

Subway Wedding

Subway Wedding
Fuji x100f, 28mm, f/2.8, 1/50s, ISO 1000

It’s quite a common occurence to see wedding photos taken in public places. This was very true in Shanghai, and it’s just as true here in HK. I suspect a lot of photoshopping goes into it down the line, but for me it was just fun to snap at these future bride and groom in the stairwell of Central MTR station. The best is that they were smiling at me more (I felt) than they were at the official photographer. I know street theoretically works better when the subjects are unaware of the camera, but I really like this little moment of joy.

Orthodox Smoke

Orthodox Smoke
Canon 7D, 135mm, f/1.8, 1/400s, ISO 800

A few years ago I was invited by a Greek friend to the christening of his son, and we decided to make a family trip of it. I took many shots during the ceremony and I have to say that I found the ritual fascinating. One thing I really wanted to capture was the smoke form the incense burner, and this shot was a good capture of that.

Gnawa Street Musician

Gnawa Street Musician
Canon 7D, 80mm, f/2.8, 1/1250s, ISO 400

There are street musicians you just want to give money to. This guy had such a smile that you couldn’t resist him. I don’t remember how the music was, but it’s one of the only things in Marrakech that I really liked (the rest of Morocco was much more interesting).

Full Protective Gear

Full Protective Gear
Fuji x100f, 28mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO 1600

Sometimes my « street portraits » just aim at depicting a cultural trait, or something that you see frequently in one place but not in others. In Hong Kong women protect themselves from the sunlight with hats or umbrellas, and men and women alike from the pollution with masks. The mask+hat combo may be over the top, but I’ll let you judge.

Cross

Cross
Fuji x100f, 35mm, f/4, 1/250s, ISO 640

The benches in Victoria Park often host interesting people. Not sure what prompted me to shoot, but I like the attitude. Can you really check your phone with your arms crossed like that ?

Colourful

Colourful
Fuji x100f, 28mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 2500

I like capturing people in uniforms when shooting street. At first I was bothered that the face of the guy at the front is partially hidden, but now I think the trade off is the movement, which I really like.

Pretty Poodle

Pretty Poodle
Fuji x100f, 35mm, f/4, 1/250s, ISO 320

One thing you notice when you live in Hong Kong (and more generally in China, it was even more pronounced in Shanghai) is how much the Chinese love their dogs. There’s a special liking for small dogs (I suppose the topology of the city explains that in part) and so I’ve been trying to capture masters and dogs these last few weeks.

Mobile Addiction

Mobile Addiction
Fuji XPro-2, 50mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 200

I suppose you could see a scene like this anywhere, but here in Hong Kong (and elsewhere in China) there is really the sense that people are constantly glued to their device to the absolute ignorance of anything going on around them. I must have been maybe three meters away from the lady when I shot this, took my time, framed… she never looked up.

Melancholy Monkey

Melancholy Monkey
Fuji XPro-2, 85mm, f/1.4, 1/1800s, ISO 200

There’s something fascinating about monkeys, especially when they’re just lying around like they own the place (which, to be fair, they do). It’s hard not to project our own reading of facial expressions on their faces, wrong as that may be, hence the title here…

Erhu in Central

Erhu in Central
Fuji Xpro-2, 85mm, f/1.4, 1/1800s, ISO 200

The Erhu is a Chinese violin that sounds atrocious to my European ears. But when you find an Erhu player on an overpass in Central and that he lets you take your time shooting a portrait, you can tolerate the sound for a few seconds, open nearly all the way to f/1.4 and get a nice bokeh in the background of your street portrait !