Photo, talks and rants

A simple look at photography, exhibitions, gears and imaging related issues.

When old guards don’t matter anymore

Recently, I attended a talk by a few photographers. Among those presented was a photographer whose name was once synonymous with “celebrity”, “A-list” and “high-profile”. 10 years ago, this photographer was very sought after by major international publications. But about 5 years ago, his name was hardly hanging off the lips of the industry anymore.

At the talk, this particular photographer talked a lot. It felt as though he was trying to make up for lost time. The time when he was forgotten, he had the chance now to show that he is still relevant.

I turned to a friend beside me, and told her: “That’s an old guard trying to stay relevant”.

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Got the moves like Moriyama

I won’t say I am the No.1 fan of Daido Moriyama, but I think I am one of the more fanatical fans of his works here in Singapore. 

Recently, I managed to catch the documentary which he did with B.B.B. titled Near Equal Daido Moriyama. The alternate title of this film is also Stray Dog of Tokyo, which is quite apt, considering that one of his most famous images is that of a dog looking back at him.
 
The 2001 documentary was available on DVD, but from what I understand, it has since been discontinued. So, the method which I got the film was rather unorthodox, but a Moriyama fan got to do what a Moriyama fan has to, right?

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[Poem] The hunter

The hunter gathers his tools
and, loads up.
He heads out alone
for fear that the noise of a crowd
will break the silence of his thoughts
and that, of the surrounding.

He walks long distances,
taking short breaks and,
occasionally sitting down for a coffee.
His eyes, however, doesn’t rest, and,
neither does his mind.

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It’s Not Perfect, But It Will Do


From the series, Krung Thep 2012. © Leonard Goh, 2012. 

In my last post, I talked about configuring my Leica D-Lux 5 to work like one of the film cameras that I use on the streets. It’s always easy to talk, but in practice, things may not usually work out how they should.
 
So, it was a good opportunity to try out my configuration over the past 5 days in Bangkok, Thailand.
 
Since I haven’t shot seriously for a while, it took me awhile to get into the groove again. Also, using the LCD to frame images wasn’t to my liking, but I made do with what I have on hand.
 
Long story short, it was a blast to shoot the streets of Bangkok with my D-Lux 5 and the custom settings.
 
It’s small, discreet and responds relatively fast in terms of focusing and operation. Look at the picture below.
 

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To the Land of Smiles!

To the Land of Smiles!

My compact configuration


From the series, Play.Ground. Taken at Old Airport Road, one of my childhood hangouts when I stayed with my Grandma. 
 
So, recently I came into possession of a D-Lux 5, and believe it or not, that’s my first compact digital camera. Other than this, the other cameras I have at home are all film-based. 
 
Now, we all know that shooting digitally and with film have some differences, but it’s a good thing that the D-Lux 5 is an advanced compact with plenty of room for customization.
 
The first thing that I did when I got the camera was to adjust all the parameters to make my shooting more familiar and comfortable.
 
Here’s my configuration:
 

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Me and My Domke

In the picture above, you’ll see a Domke F2. But mind you, that’s not just any other Domke, or at least, that’s what I like to believe.

Long story short, this F2 was given to me by Raymond Toh, a photographer I worked for when I was 17.

I still remember vividly the day he gave me this bag. It was my last day of work since I had to go back to school, and in the evening after I was done packing up, he came up to me with the F2 and said that he didn’t have much to give me as a farewell present but he’d like me to have this bag.

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Living room. 24 November 2011.

Living room. 24 November 2011.

Dogs at Ikea. 18 November 2011

Dogs at Ikea. 18 November 2011

An open letter to Kodak

From the series, Dhaka Diary. Shot on Tri-X with a Holga.

Dear Kodak,

First of all, thank you.

Thank you for reinventing photography with the Brownie, and more importantly, film. Thank you for putting 35mm film into cartridges, which has remained virtually unchanged since 1934.

When I first got started in photography, I tried a lot of different films. Back then, there was Konica, Fujifilm and of course, Kodak. Sure, there were other brands such as Agfa, but these 3 brands of film were most commonly available at film developing stores.

I tried them all, but at the end of the day it was Kodak Gold 200 that won me over. That was my choice of film (unless I was shooting events in the school hall, then I switched to ASA 400 film) for quite some time.

I have previously written about my favourite film, Tri-X, so I shouldn’t ramble on about how I fell in love with it.

So, Kodak, on behalf of those who still shoot primarily with Tri-X these days, please, please keep it alive.

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