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Genius Loci

R0011230 (Medium)^Old buildings in Macau combining a taste of continental deco and form and the eyesores of modern fittings

Taken from Latin, genius loci literally means the “spirit of a place”, basing on the concept that cities have a deep underlying spirit arising from climatic and cultural aspects.  This is exactly what a street shots photographer can consider represent in their works, not the least when travelling and photographing in another country.

I did not consider myself a street shot photographer until I really made my first sortie into digital photography with the Ricoh GX200.  To digress a bit, the upcoming lowest priced ever FF A850 did tickle my fancy at some point of time to revive my Minolta system.  But the sheer weight of the body at 850g, as compared to GX200’s slightly over 200g, was a big non-starter.  Cameras of such a magnitude size- and weight-wise are best suited for people who make money for a living from photography and, I surmise, it’s the marketing which makes them proliferate.

And guess what?  It is a misguided belief that the pros use pro-gear to do the best works for the best selling prices.  I’d show you tomorrow.  Besides that, a professional wedding photographer I knew had his shoulder bone broken once after a day of hauling the heavy gear on his shoulder.

R0011110 (Medium) ^An old open-air market in Macau.  With a labyrinth of narrow lanes connecting the city, Macau impressed me with a higher population of motorcyclists on the road who, more often than not, rode on scooters.  This shot was taken by waiting next to the row of parked scooters for the passing by motorcyclist to completer the composition.  The market in the background works just great to tell the smallness of oldness of Macau.

Back to genius loci, photographers other than a local of the place should first get some ideas about the shooting locations they are going to visit.  For that matter, there is nothing better than reading a books.  You may look at the works of other photographers about the place but mind your own style and interpretation in the final images, which I think are the keys of successful photos.

When in the destination, wander into the back lanes and the residential areas whenever it’s safe to do so.  I’ve found that talking to the locals would also bestow myself as a photographer with a stronger sense of the spirit of the place.  Once I was in Bali, having befriended some policemen, had a spin in the police car to do sightseeing.  That experience gave me a new perspectives in seeing and photographing the locals which better epitomised the place (sorry that I shot slides back then and don’t have the time to convert them here to illustrating the point).

R0011117 (Medium)^A seemingly time-honoured snack store around a corner of an old area in Macau.  If you’re local, you can easily see that it bears testimony to the old way of life of the place.  Those big glass jars were common sights in the snack stores of its kind before the advert of supermarkets in this part of the world.  This speaks of the fact that a photographer needs to know something about the place before a picture better representing the place can be produced.

The sure-fire way to find the right destinations of such is by the aid of a map.  Otherwise, it is my habit to tour around a place on foot.  Probably except for in London, taking a cheap bus ride will end you up in a place unexpected to you.  Simply make sure that you’ve got the money to take a taxi back home and the phone number for hiring one in case of need.

R0011118 (Medium)^The composition was done with an intention.  The diagonal line from the lower left to the upper right is to give a feeling of force to the image, hopefully better balancing the seemingly heavier jar on the far left due to the shooting angle.  You may download the image and reverse it horizontally to see an image with the jars seemingly perilously placed atop the display cabinet.

For the Macau tour, I took a bus ride.  The blind route to me added to my creativity and inspiration in shooting the street shots.  Otherwise, my photos for the tour could have been more typical and humdrum.

R0011226 (Medium) ^One the best known facts of Macau is the crispy snacks of it.  Here I wandered into a shop cum workshop and shot a chef who was making some pre-packaged sweet snack later for sale on the shelf in the shop.  The image is mirrored.

The last tip for taking street shots is, especially for photographing in a foreign country, don’t follow what you see on the postcards.  You can make use of a postcard in an image (I can show how when there is a chance) but don’t follow them.  If you do, why don’t you just buy a postcard, right?

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