Sri Lanka’s a destination on the top of my wish list, and we traveled to Mirissa Beach in January 2019.
It’s one of those locales that needs careful planning, and at the time a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia wasn’t available. Flight time to Colombo was approximately three hours, followed up with a three-hour drive to Mirissa.
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From Studio based portrait to street portrait photography. This was a natural progression considering I no longer have a photography studio base to work from.
This is due to leaving my homeland of New Zealand in March 2011 to live in Phuket – Thailand. In 2015 I relocated to Malaysia spending one year exploring Penang, and I’m now a resident of Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur has a very active community of enthusiastic street photographers devoted to their craft. They get together for photo walks, organize regular gallery exhibitions, and manage several popular online forums for sharing their photography. Which is ideal for inspiration and is a valuable support structure for the members.
I stumbled upon “Pasar Karat” – a direct translation from Bahasa Malayu is “Rusty Market” while on my photo walk around Chinatown – Kuala Lumpur. In the 80’s the market was also referred to as the “Market of Thieves” apparently due to the questionable source of the goods for sale.
Pasar Karat is on the fringe of Petaling Street and starts at 5 am and stall owners are around to 10 am and I understand that Sunday is the busiest day with all the vendors turning out with their wares. Some of the old timers have been hawking for 20 – 30 years.
One of my favourite street photography breakouts from the heat and chaos of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur is Coffee Amo. The cafe is not on street level (and perhaps a little difficult to find) if you’re not a regular.
It is well signposted once you’ve reached the address. You climb a small flight of dimly lit creaky stairs, the coffee aroma and the fun illustrations greet you at the top of the stairway and entice you to enter the cafe.
I was in Hong Kong in July 2017 for one week and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Kowloon East. And as always carried a camera in my luggage, and this time an old Lecia D Lux 4.
Mike Johnston’s post on The Online Photographer blog is an interesting perspective about the often quoted:
The best camera is the one you have with you.
Shop mannequin size is a hotly debated topic, and most criticised are the fashion store mannequins for being too thin and promoting unrealistic body ideas.
This study examined the size of mannequins used in national fashion retailers on the high streets of two English cities.
Mannequins are good portrait studies as they don’t move, and are generally posed under shop lights. Therefore, I consider mannequins to be more still life subjects.
The challenges posed by the shop lighting or lack of lighting is what inspires me most. Reflectivity, and shape also makes for an interesting photograph.
Of late, I’ve also been focused on individual body parts and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the occasional missing digit.
This post includes some of my favourite mannequin photos. What’s beautiful about this fascination of mine is that the window displays often change, the clothing, their poses, and the sets.
For more photos of mannequins please visit my photo series gallery.
I try and keep it current, and update it regularly with new images.
Street Portrait Photography is my passion.
I love stepping out with my camera, wondering who I might meet on my travels, and what photos I’ll make along the way.
My vocation is portrait photography, and the street provides so many interesting subjects.
The opportunity to learn about people, a snippet of their lives is what motivates me to keep stepping out.
When the portraits are downloaded, it’s another opportunity for me to gaze upon the subject, recall our conversation and imagine more …
This is a short list of what is important to me in my craft of Street Portrait Photography.
Street photography is not without its challenges. This is the first post in a series I’m writing about my experiences on the street with accompanying photos.
Personal safety is a biggie for me, and sometimes I put myself at risk by being too in the frame and not being aware of my surroundings. Plus, I don’t have eye’s in the back of my head, and prefer to travel alone – basically, because a companion would be very bored hanging with me and there’s no fun in that and I would feel bad. Which in turn would disrupt my focus.
I spent Christmas in Luang Prabang Laos, a peaceful holiday away from the bustling metropolis of Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia.
Luang Prabang’s climate is different from Kuala Lumpur’s, it is much cooler in the mornings and evenings.
Unfortunately, my packing lent on the side of summer ensembles. Due to low cloud hanging in the valley the sun often didn’t appear until about 11 am and its enveloping warmth feels like a visit from a dear friend.
My packing choices meant I wore the same jeans, puffer jacket and long sleeve shirt twice daily for ten days. Once home, I swore never to wear these items of clothing again, and stored them deep in the recesses of my wardrobe.
Featured here is a selection of my favourite photographs of the Ma Song – Spirit Horses from the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket. I’ve reproduced them in black and white which is my preferred medium.
To understand the history of the festival and its ritual practices please visit an older post documenting the Festival in Phuket – Thailand
