Trial by F-Stop

"Mr. Winogrand had no patience for the phony sympathies he thought connected too many photographers..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:25:33 +0800

“Mr. Winogrand had no patience for the phony sympathies he thought connected too many photographers to their subjects… [he] was so enthralled by photography that he kept saying yes to the medium, which left him little time or reason to go back and say no to one image over another.”

- Gary Winogrand - Nonstop and Unedited - I truly agree with Winogrand on this one. I love the act of taking photographs, maybe far more so than whatever comes out of the camera. I guess this is why I can keep my rolls undeveloped for a long time.

"are you an active or passive participant in your own manifestation of photographic identity?"

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:42:32 +0800

“are you an active or passive participant in your own manifestation of photographic identity?”

- a bunch of SG-based streettogs have a deep conversation sparked off from Alec Soth’s Eggleston question, and this is the most distilled, important point I can make as a result of that discussion (which I’ll post up soon).

Little Brown Miscellanea: The Eggleston Question

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:08:45 +0800

Little Brown Miscellanea: The Eggleston Question:

littlebrownmushroom:

Alec Soth: A few years ago Robert Frank said, “There are too many images, too many cameras now. We’re all being watched. It gets sillier and sillier. As if all action is meaningful. Nothing is really all that special. It’s just life. If all moments are recorded, then nothing is beautiful and maybe photography isn’t an art any more. Maybe it never was.” What do you think about this?

William Eggleston: I don’t disagree with any part of that statement.

greatleapsideways: From Barrio, by Paul D’Amato. wow, all...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:05:40 +0800

greatleapsideways:

From Barrio, by Paul D’Amato.

wow, all these photos just jump out at MY FACE. I must remember this book for later purchasing.

reportagebygettyimages: gettyimagesarchive: 1952 A toy...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:32:05 +0800

reportagebygettyimages:

gettyimagesarchive:

1952 A toy six-shooter pistol during a game of cops & robbers on a prairie. Photo by Howard Sochurek.

The folks at Getty Images Archive are opening up their vault and joining Tumblr. 20th Century, meet 21st.

What a zinger of an image.

STREET PORTRAITIST: On da block - Part 3

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:49:21 +0800

STREET PORTRAITIST: On da block - Part 3:

streetportrait:

Da block I live on is kinda interesting. I remember going outside of my house a few times and seeing a few ladies running. I watched for a while and they were actually running laps around the building for exercise.

I also noticed that there is an old guy with a walking stick doing the same…

If you’ve never heard of the Street Portraitist before, now’s the time. Ade’s a real cool cat, living and working out of Japan. He’s got a real slick vibe and he’s mean with a camera. The best part is he documents all the everyday folk he encounters on the streets and takes their portraits. Then he writes about his encounters with ‘em.

It’s like you’re right there next to Ade, talking to these lovely people. I urge you to look at the pictures, read his words, and follow his stunning blog.

"Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed."

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:40:18 +0800

“Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed.”

- GARRY WINOGRAND. My hero.

Here are a bunch of snaps from my recent trip to China. I took...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:05:37 +0800

Here are a bunch of snaps from my recent trip to China. I took a whole lot of digital shots, but most were meh to me.

It’ll be awhile still before the film ones see the light of day.

tokyo-camera-style: from Zuisha vol.3 John Sypal via Totem...

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:07:40 +0800

tokyo-camera-style:

from Zuisha vol.3

John Sypal

via Totem Pole Photo Gallery

I’m so happy that John’s Zuisha vol. 3 is out. John’s a consistent work-churner, and this is just as great as the last two volumes. Go see it now.

"I have a lot of respect for people who work in daily journalism, and local news in particular. These..."

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:03:50 +0800

““I have a lot of respect for people who work in daily journalism, and local news in particular. These are guys who go out every day and find new stories or angles in the same tiny village for 25 years. That’s not easy,” says Bendiksen. ”This is all very good experience for me to apply to all my photography. Sharpening my eyes a bit for finding images in the everyday. This I’ll definitely take with me.””

- Jonas Bendiksen, who started working for a small town newspaper with a circulation of 8,000.

via Wired.com

(via photographsonthebrain)

This is a good reminder for me to continue seeking the magic of Singapore for my photography project on it. I find it much easier to take street photographs of places I’ve never been to before, but the challenge is looking at home.

"Because our digital photographs are inherently social objects, and because mobile platforms now..."

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:12:13 +0800

“Because our digital photographs are inherently social objects, and because mobile platforms now create a massive global audience for companies to directly provide tools and software to, digital pictures have transformed into a strange, fierce battleground where bigger platform giants test the limits of privacy, throw friendly punches at their rivals, and experiment with new business models. Most coverage and analysis of this trend focuses on the end consumers, but for the purposes of this post, let’s consider digital photographs as being a byproduct of the advances in mobile camera technology, as the camera itself is perhaps the single most important sensor on our phones and tablets. As the camera sensor improves over time, the opportunities around photosharing increase with it. Therefore, my belief is that we are still in the early innings of this digital photography craze, so if you’re tired of the meme, brace yourself because it will take years to unfold, and if you’re excited about this future, it’s a great time to get your hands dirty.”

- Iterations: It’s Early Innings For Digital Pictures | TechCrunch (via photographsonthebrain)

I’m very into thinking about the academic and theoretical developments of photography, that has nothing to do with the photographer or even the camera. It is amazing to know that something as simple as photography, has given the Internet a newfound vigor in the way we do our social business.

"And that, I believe, is what has happened over the past few years: The act of photographing, the..."

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:11:08 +0800

“And that, I believe, is what has happened over the past few years: The act of photographing, the gesture, has become part of our interaction with the world. You photograph just like you look. You know that you can never look at all of those photographs again (in all likelihood you never will - who has the time?), but it’s not about the photographs - it’s about the photographing. The act of photography might have turned into the equivalent of whistling a song, something you do, something that might or might not have beauty, a communicative act just as much as an affirmative act: I was there, and me being there means I had to photograph it.”

- JM Colberg (via photographsonthebrain)

Indeed, photography is as ubiquitous to social interactions as shaking hands. This is an advantage to the medium, anyway you cut it.

mpdrolet: Disneyland, CA, 1976 Don Hudson Holyyyy crap. What...

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 22:44:24 +0800

mpdrolet:

Disneyland, CA, 1976

Don Hudson

Holyyyy crap. What a shot.

I’m going to China tomorrow afternoon for about 5 days. ...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 11:43:33 +0800

I’m going to China tomorrow afternoon for about 5 days. Checking out Lijiang and Kunming in the Yunnan Province. Said to be the most beautiful parts of China. And it is also going to be very cold.

But at least I’m prepared photo-wise.

My hometown, Malacca

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:18:46 +0800

It is finally done. 10 months in the making, the photo documentary of my hometown, Malacca. Every Chinese New Year, the entire Chia family returns there to hang with my last surviving grandma. And every year, I love the place, the nostalgia and historic remnants at odds with the modernity laid out before it.

In any case, even if things were to change, these photos will always stay the same.

You can check out the photo series here.

"You need a Leica if you’re going to shoot real life and happiness. Kind-heartedness, life and..."

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:01:43 +0800

“

You need a Leica if you’re going to shoot real life and happiness. Kind-heartedness, life and people: it all boils down in the long run to love and affection. The Leica has just the right lens, shutter noise, and style to make it go perfectly with this kind of feeling. Like I said before, the Leica makes its presence in an incredibly reserved way. You get the impression that even the subject of your photo looks calmer and gentler.

It looks really refined and expensive as well. That’s another thing I like about it. With a cheap and shoddy camera all you can take are cheap and shoddy photographs. The photographs you take are a reflection of the camera you’re using!

”

- Nobuyoshi Araki

I’ve been off the grid awhile, supes busy with other...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:16:01 +0800

I’ve been off the grid awhile, supes busy with other non-photography related stuff. But now I’m back and I’ve got a new series coming soon. Public holidays are for editing and sequencing.

In the vein of Tokyo Camera Style, here are four lovely...

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:29:00 +0800

In the vein of Tokyo Camera Style, here are four lovely M2s.

Clockwise from top: My very own M2 with 35mm Canon LTM, M2 with 40mm Nokton, M2 with 35mm Summarit, and M2 with 35mm Nokton lens.

These are, in my opinion, the greatest 35mm film camera ever made.

SG Photobook Day, Pigeonhole

tokyo-camera-style: Omaha Nebraska, 2002 I’m happy to announce...

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:08:44 +0800

tokyo-camera-style:

Omaha Nebraska, 2002

I’m happy to announce that I will be holding an exhibition of my work shot in my home state of Nebraska at Totem Pole Photo Gallery from Tuesday, October 23rd to Sunday, November 4th. Half of the show will feature twenty 16x20 prints first exhibited at the Nikon Salon in 2005 entitled Nebraska, the Good Life, with another twenty or so 11x14 prints of work shot during my recent trips home over the past few summers.

The Nebraska series was an important step in my development as a photographer. In 2002 I returned to my hometown after a year studying abroad with the particular photographic intensity and curiosity I developed in Japan, intact. Almost a decade later, these Nebraska pictures continue to interest me. Paring them with recent work should make for a good show.

The gallery is open from noon to 7pm, daily. Hope to see you there.

ジョンサイパル / John Sypal

Nebraska

2012.10.23(tue) - 11.4(sun)

Open 12:00-19:00

Totem Pole Photo Gallery

Go see this show if you’re in Tokyo. I would if I could.

By Tateishi Norikazu Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami3/22/2011....

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:07:00 +0800

By Tateishi Norikazu

Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami

3/22/2011. Miyako, Iwate Prefecture.

Four year old Kon Manami wrote a letter to her missing mother. After spreading out her notebook on a low table in her relatives’ house, she took a coloured pencil in hand and wrote for nearly an hour, one character at a time, “Mama, I hope you’re alive. Are you well?” Then, apparently exhausted, she fell fast asleep. Manami lost both parents and a sister to the tsunami. They have not been found.

This heart-wrenching image was displayed at a photo exhibition at Photokina.