architecture

Heights of Wan Chai

*Heights of Wan Chai*
Rolleiflex SL35 + Ferrania P30

I recently sold my Ricoh GR1. I just never enjoyed using it and was rarely wowed by the photos it produced. For a fraction of the price, I purchased a Rolleiflex SL35 with a Rollei/Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lens. The first roll I ran through it was Ferrania P30, which in hindsight was stupid: way too precious a film stock to use as test roll, but thankfully it came out fine. I love the deep contrasts that you get with Ferrania P30, it gives the shots an old time cinematic feel. This was taken from the terrace of my shared office space in Wan Chai.

Golden Intricacy

*Golden Intricacy*
Fuji XT3

The decorations on many of the temples in Luang Prabang was simply some of the most detailed and beautiful I’d seen anywhere, magnified by the warm sunlight around. I can’t remember 100% which temple this was but it’s likely to have been Wat Sensoukharam.

A Corner of Sky

*A Corner of Sky*
Fuji GW690iii + JCH 400

I’ve attempted this kind of shot many times in the past (the Hong Kong skyline gives you plenty of opportunities) and the trick is to keep some texture in the sky while maintaining detail in the building facades. I think I managed to expose this one just right, and I like the jagged line of building roofs.

Triangular Colonnade

*Triangular Colonnade*
Leica M6 + Ferrania P30

There’s a ugly brick building just outside the Star Ferry pier that is surrounded by these half covered colonnades. When the light hits in the right way though, it’s a fantastic alignment with super high contrast. I’m not the first one to shoot this and I won’t be the last but I really like this spot.

Cycling on the Bridge

*Cycling on the Bridge*
Canon A2 + Ilford Pan F

In late 2013 I went to Chattanooga, Tennessee for work. I had a half day to walk around town and really loved the feel of the place. I got a few good film shots out of it, including this one of the Walnut Street Bridge. Looking at my old photos recently I realised I’d taken a black and white shot of the same location that was really interesting too.

Walking through a building

*Walking through a building*
Lubitel + Ilford HP5+

Around a decade ago, when I was first getting into film, I was fascinated by TLR cameras and sourced this cheap yet functional Lubitel from a Ukrainian ebay reseller. I only ever shot one roll, it was too fiddly for me at the time. Of that roll, the one shot that I still find interesting to this day is my first (accidental) double exposure. There’s something quite evocative about it, which goes to show that while I like control over my double exposures, there is something to be said for embracing the randomness of it all as well…

Escher Condo

*Escher Condo*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Ilford Pan F

This photo is the single keeper of an entire roll of building double exposures. I was inspired by a similar concept shot and shared by Jules le Moal. The principle is simple : you shoot the top of a building, then you reverse the camera and you shoot the top of the building again. I had not realised quite how close to the edge of the frame you have to be for the effect to work, and so the entire roll was little blobs of properly exposed buildings in the middle of overexposed buildings. Except this one, which I really like and shows at least that the concept has legs.

The Narrows


*The Narrows*
Ricoh GR1 + JCH400

One of the things that feels to me to be uniquely Hong-Kong is the narrow passages that connect the streets. Sometimes they are wide enough for small street markets to live there, but sometimes they’re just so narrow that their only function seems to be as a refuge for smokers.

Framed!

*Framed!*
Ricoh GR1 + JCH400

The light in Hong Kong can be very harsh, and JCH400 is a great film but very contrasty. So some might argue that the above shot is too contrasty with some blown highlights. And yet to me this is what Hong Kong on a bright day looks like. The woman in the temple door is just a great bonus.

Peace and Quiet

*Peace and Quiet*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Fuji Velvia 50

At the heart of Lyon’s Hôtel Dieu is what I’m assuming used to be a cloister. It’s now a very quiet and quite lovely park with lounge chairs for passers-bu. I tried to capture the width and quiet of it with the XPAN.