shanghai

One Last Swig

*One Last Swig*
Fuji TX2 + JCH 400

I was in Shanghai in early January (you know, the world before…) but the weather was miserable. I shot some colour with 800 ISO film, but I felt the mood was really better suited to black and white. So I walked around the French concession with a roll of JCH400 that fit the mood nicely. I’m normally a bit stifled when shooting street, looking for alignments and clean compositions instead of just shooting interesting people. I’m also not very good at manual focusing in haste. So I was double happy about this shot which doesn’t look like my usual stuff and is sharply focused!

Cricket Market

*Cricket Market*
Fuji TX2 + Cinestill 800T

One of my favourite places in Shanghai used to be the Cricket Market. A friend showed it to us when we first moved there in 2014 (and the sadly dissapeared Dongtai Lu antique market nearby), so when I went back for work in early January, I decided to go back there. I had 800 ISO film loaded, and tried to capture some of the scenes. This is a place where people who are into cricket fights come to purchase their champions. You see crickets from the near larval stage, painstakingly fed with droplets of rice gruel on straws to full size crickets like the one she’s showing to these customers here. It’s not the most graphic of photos, but it does show something you don’t see every day.

Big Buddha

*Big Buddha*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Cinestill 800T

In early January I headed out to Shanghai for work. I had a half day off at the tail end of the trip and headed out to the Jade Buddha Temple where I’d been only once on the very first week we moved to Shanghai. Despite the gloom and rain, it was even better than I remembered. I had thankfully packed 800 ISO film, and while the light wasn’t exactly the best, I got a few good shots including this one of one of the larger buddhas.

Inner Vertigo


*Inner Vertigo*
Canon 7D

Some of the hotels in Luijazui is Shanghai are downright crazy. This one is inside the Jin Mao tower, which is only the third highest tower in Shanghai. There’s an inner shaft, and from the 80th floor, this is what it looks like (the lobby is only the 35th or 40th, can’t remember exactly.

Antique Vehicle

*Antique Vehicle*
Fuji XT2 (XPAN) + Fuji Pro 400H

I’ve already professed my love (and regret) for the defunct Dongtai Lu antique market in Shanghai. This is a shot I took that has people in it and not just antiques.

The Colonel’s Parking

*The Colonel’s Parking*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Fuji Superia 400

Did you know that KFC was one of the most if not the most successful restaurant chain in China ? I could never eat the stuff, I find it vile, but the Chinese love their food fried… Anyway, I felt that beyond the parked bikes, the KFC made the shot.

Shanghai Street Food

*Shanghai Street Food*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Kodak Ultrachrome 400 (Expired)

Street food is a great subject for street photography in Asia even though in all honesty I wouldn’t be willing to try it all. This was shot near Confucius Temple and once again the largely random effect of shooting with expired film actually produced something I like, saturating the warm tones.

Chinese Urns

*Chinese Urns*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Kodak Ultrachrome 400 (Expired)

In all my time in Shanghai I saw these urns quite often (although rarely so many in one place) and never knew what they were used for. I really liked the looks of them though, which is why I took this shot. The expired film made the colours a little strange, but I fell like that contributes to the shot rather than deters from it.

Confucius Temple Inside Out

*Confucius Temple Inside Out*
Fuji XT2 (XPAN) + Fuji Pro400H

Confucius Temple in Shanghai is one of the religious edifices that moved me the most. I was lucky that I went there on a sunny and quiet day (apparently it can get really busy on weekends), and I particularly liked the contrast between the inside wood-pannelled parts and the outside paved courtyards. This is what this photo was attempting to capture.

Dongtai Lu Flea Market

*Dongtai Lu Flea Market*
Fuji TX2 (XPAN) + Fuji Pro 400H

This used to be one of my favourite places in Shanghai, a fantastic flea market that sadly closed down. I only ever shot there once with the xpan, but this photo (I think) gives a good sense of the hustle and bustle there.