Graves Galore
Fuji x100f, 35mm, f/5.6, 1/220s, ISO 200
What I really liked in the Père Lachaise cemetery compared to others I have visited is that parts of it are not nicely laid out and manucured. There are wild areas, where the tombs seem to jut from the ground, the vines have invaded the stones, etc. It feels much more like what I expect a cemetery to feel like, a place forgotten by the living.
A Woman and a Bike
Fuji x100s, 35mm, f/3.6, 1/1600s, ISO 200
The sky was unusually clear and bright in Reykjavik a couple of weeks ago. I only had a few hours to walk around, but enough to do a bit of street photography with sharp whites, long lines and dark shadows. This is the wall from the massive Hallgrímskirkja, a great backdrop for this kind of shot.
Angelo’s Tenor
Canon 7D, 80mm, f/4, 1/100s, ISO 1600
Angelo Moore is one of the most spectacular musicians I have ever seen live (here with the Madd Vibes Brass Band). That evening he played no less than 5 different saxophones (including the bass sax.)
The New Recruit
Fuji x100s, 35mm, f/8, 1/60s, ISO 640
When I was in London for work a couple of weeks ago I decided to do most of my traveling by foot: it wasn’t raining, the distances weren’t massive (the most I walked between two meetings was an hour) and it felt healthy. As long as I was close to the river, in the area where most buildings are brick, there were a ton of photo opportunities like this one. I don’t know what it is about brick buildings that gives them so much photographic appeal, but it’s a reality. As soon as I moved into the posher areas, photo opportunities just died down it seems…
Phone Break
Fuji x100s, 35mm, f/8, 1/60s, ISO 800
I guess there was a time when street photography shots of people on their phones were new and different. Now the challenge is to shoot people not on their phones. Still, once in a while it works, maybe not as original, but as interesting nonetheless. I think that’s the case in this London moment, edited with XeL 2.0.
Peeling Garlic
Fuji x100s, 35mm, f/2.8, 1/60s, ISO 640
While in Yangshuo we went to a food market. I love open air (or, in this case, covered) markets, they teem with life and tell us more about how people live than many other sights in a city. This was a massive hall with lots of fruit and vegetable sellers (there were meat sellers in a different section, I’ll cover that later). We saw all kinds of odd vegetables, some of which we didn’t even have names for. We also noticed that you could buy garlic either as nature intended or pre-peeled. This guy was passing the time peeling his garlic…
Cycling the Streets
Fuji x100s, 35mm, f/5.6, 1/450s, ISO 200
Many people have a fantasy view of Shanghai (or China in general for that matter) with bicycles everywhere. Sadly, while this may have been a real sight at the time The Blue Lotus was drawn, and still true when I first came to China in 1995, it no longer is. Electric scooters have replaced bicycles. Still, occasionally you see old people going down the streets on bikes, so it’s not all lost to modernity.
(Click to Enlarge)
Street Life, China Style
Fuji TX2 (XPAN), 45mm, f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 200
Film: Agfa Scala 200
One of the things I find fascinating about the panoramic format when used organically (ie. what you see before you shoot is the panorama) is that it allows you to capture scenes of life in the street in a way that I find much harder with the traditional format. Because what you shoot is so much wider, you can end up with photos with a lot of things happening at the same time. The subject becomes life in the street rather than one single character or event. I don’t pretent to master this process yet, but it’s really something I want to explore. Case in point, during a stroll south of Yu Garden with my photo buddy Tom (who is now back in the US…)
(Click to Enlarge)
Resting in the Shade
Fuji TX2 (XPAN), 45mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 200
Film: Agfa Scala 200
One of the few « attractions » recommended by the hotel Concierge in Jakarta was the harbour. It was worth it, not that it was picturesque, but there are always plenty of photo opportunities in these places. Some of the dockers were resting in the shade of a big machine, and I felt the panoramic format could do them justice.
(Click to Enlarge)
The Streets of Jakarta
Fuji TX2 (XPAN 2), 45mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO 200
Film: Agfa Scala 200
There are shots that you just know are going to come out right when you take them. With film, the time between shooting and reviewing is especially long (and even more so with the hard to process Scala B&W slide) but this one stuck with me for 3 months before I could get it processed. Believe it or not, I didn’t see the metal bar on the top left when I shot and obviously the picture is a little less powerful for it, but still, I’m happy with the results.
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