*Crooked Cross*
Canon A2 + Ilford Ortho + 80
One of the things I really love in old cemeteries is those places where nature has blended with the graves. Here, the roots of the tree have shifted the grave and the cross quite significantly to it no longer stands upright. It’s a testament of the power of nature that I find important to keep in mind these days : the trees will be there and grow long after we are all gone.
*Mysterious Cherub*
Canon A2 + Agfa Scala 200 (expired)
From my first visit to the Hong Kong Cemetery I spotted this Cherub under the trees. The light hits it laterally, which is very nice although its face is always in the shadows. I quite like the way this shot came out although I would like to try it again with a non expired film and a reflector.
*Broken Wing*
Canon A2 + Agfa Scala 200 (Expired)
Shooting expired film (let alone expired slide) is always a tricky proposition. I shot this one overexposed by +1 (but processed normally) to try and get some oomph back from it. It came out pretty low contrast, but enough that I could work with it. In the end, it’s conveys an old photo quality feel that I quite like and also is very appropriate for cemetery photos.
*Quiet Sunday*
Canon A2 + Ilford Ortho Plus 80
I only ever shot Ortho once before and bungled that particular roll, so I was curious to see what the photos of the St Michael Catholic Cemetery in Hong Kong would look like. Turns out they really worked, with a lot of detail in the shadows and bright but not clipped highlights. Some dislike the Ortho grain, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. In this shot I was trying to capture this very strange and surprising tree in the middle of the path.
*Two Crosses*
Canon A2 + Agfa Scala 200 (Expired)
Shooting expired film is risky at the best of times and with slide film even more so. Still, I hate wasting, and I shot this roll of expired Scala overexposed 1 stop to compensate for age. I still had to work the contrasts heavily in post- but the result has an old photography feel that I find appealing.
*Paupers’ Ashes*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Kodak TMax400
The paupers’ resting places in the St Michael Catholic Cemetery are these little boxed on walls on the side of the cemetery. Not the most photogenic of subjects, but a healthy reminder that class struggles do indeed carry on all the way to the grave…
*Sunlight Over the Graves*
Fuji TX2 + JCH400
I went to the Happy Valley cemeteries with my friend Matthew. When we arrived, it was drizzling, but an hour into it the sun was shining (that’s Hong Kong for you). Gave the whole place a very different feel. In this shot I wanted to capture the chaotic layout of the cemetery but also the shafts of light piercing the shadows under the trees.
*Madonna*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Tmax400
There are lots of statues in St Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Hong Kong that would not stand out in the older European cemeteries. What I liked about this Madonna however was how she stands in front of what I’m assuming is the Pauper’s graves, little boxes in a wall with photos in front of them. Not something you see so much in the Père Lachaise.
*Urban Excrescence*
Fuji TX2 + Ilford Pan F
The series I’ll be posting this week is the result of very early experimentation. The results delivered were not what I was going for, but quite interesting nonetheless. Definitely a direction I’ll keep exploring in the future.
*Dogtown*
Ricoh GR1 + Kodak T-Max 400
Sai Kung is a seaside town North-East of Hong-Kong Island. For some reason, either there’s a lot of dog owners there, or dog owners converge there at the same time I go there. Either way, I intend to go back to do a series of nothing but dogs and dog owners. This is one of them. Interestingly, while many people aren’t too happy about being photographed in the street, if you show interest in the dog, they agree readily!
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