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.
Read More
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.
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.
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.
I decided to visit the Kuala Lumpur City Park (KLCC) late afternoon to take some portraits.
The park was crowded which was a lovely surprise, usually I visit early morning when it is more quiet, and today it was almost shoulder to shoulder in some parts, the children’s play areas in particular.
People were attempting selfies with the Petronas Towers as a backdrop and some looking like pretzels in their attempt to capture the twins in their photograph.
Tourists thumbing through guide books, families having their evening meal together, and couples sitting and enjoying each other’s company.
Children laughing, birds chirping, construction building sounds filtering through as background noise — the hammering, pounding and drilling seems never to rest in this city. Adding to the cacophony, security staff blowing their whistles at adults trying to sneak in a swing or two at the playground.
This morning was beautiful, and I headed out at 8:30 am to the nearby Kuala Lumpur City Park (KLCC), armed with my camera and 85mm lens to take some portraits.
My aim was ten portraits, and to photograph people using natural light only. My desire was to approach strangers and ask for their portrait, and then ask them for a few minutes to ask a couple of questions.
In reality ten portraits was too ambitious. I was at the park for ninety minutes and spent time with people enjoying conversations, listening to their stories and sharing some details from my own story. Having this exchange is far better, and more interesting than speed shooting and collecting random portraits of strangers.
The questions I posed were influenced by a recent ‘Chase Jarvis 30 Days of Genius’ interview I watched with Michael Meade – storyteller and author of The Genius Myth.
QUESTIONS:
What makes you happy?
What is your gift to the world?
Everyone I approached was open to having their portrait taken and answering my questions.
Freeman White is an internationally recognized landscape and portrait artist.
He sprung to National and international attention in 2006 when his painting “Portrait of Hans” – Hans Kellet pen name of playwright Ryan McFayden – won the prestigious Adam Portraiture Award at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery – Te Pukenga Whakaata.
I met with him at his Wellington based studio in September 2010 and captured this series of portraits.
For more about Freeman visit his site and Saatchi Art profile.
