OPorto

I wanted to post this picture separate from the one under "Lisbon and Porto" because it has a very different feel after a bit of old-fashioned darkroom work on it.

It was just after sunrise as I took a cup of coffee from my hotel and walked to the ocean side. An ancient stone jetty took me closer to the waves, rocks and the iodine-rich, salty effluvia of the Atlantic. There was nothing special for photography though, as the fishermen I had seen the day before were not there. I put my camera down, sat at the very end of the jetty and enjoyed my double espresso.

When I turned to my left, a fisherman was now walking toward the jetty. He was probably 200 meters away and walking fast. I had enough time to frame one picture through a Rollei Tessar 200mm.

Although it was shot on B&W 100 ASA film, I wanted to duplicate the feeling I had looking through the viewfinder. So I did a bit of darkroom work to brig out the rustiness the morning light gave to the old city and stone jetty in the background.

The foot step pattern on the sand tells a story, I think.

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013
                                                                              

Kyoto

I was in Kyoto for two days, mostly busy at the University. Given my interest in photography, I was given a couple of hours, escorted by a colleague, to go to the market.
It was a more traditional market than the ones I have seen in Tokyo, and I expected that. The exquisite Japanese taste in clothing and detail is what I wanted to capture in this photo, amid the traditional banners and market structure.

I also like to eat street food, as it gets me closer to local culture. I tried different types of tofu and seaweed, but my discovery that day was the fried fish balls. I had tried both the yellow and white versions in Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but the ones I tried in Kyoto were the absolute best. The white fish ball, scortchingly hot, enticed my senses wonderfully.

I returned to Tokyo by train, and on the way back Mount Fuji was majestically clear that day. Not a single cloud and the mountain was all colour. The man next to me noticed that I was the only one not taking pictures and asked why?

"I take only B&W pictures" I replied. "It does not do justice to the mountain when all in colour. Maybe next time when it is raining and the mountain is half in fog."

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013

Cape Town, South Africa

A small piece of paradise, this town is. At the junction of two oceans, it has as much variety in is topography as its demographics. To anyone holding a camera it offers compositions and outlooks that are very unique.

But to a street photographer using only B&W film, the ocean, beaches and colourful houses are not the primary focus. My quest for a composition that also tells a story about Cape Town was the challenge during last year's trip.

The first is a composition of horizontal and vertical lines, the ocean in the background and a social moment in the marina. The platinum-blond woman provided the perfect contrast, as well as the visual disruption through the patterns of her bag. I did some dodging in the darkroom to enhance her presence.

The second picture is a typical street shot: I saw the hat-seller lady walk on the beach and hoped to frame her between the couple having lunch. While this was planned on my part, the perfect positioning of the pigeon atop her was not! And that is what those of us still using film and 1950's mechanical cameras hope to achieve based on what H. Bresson called "le moment decisif" or the deciding moment: to frame and click just when all actors and elements are about to tell a story.

Of course the lighting was much less than optimal: against the sun and reflections from the sea and sand. But I did not think about the technical quality of the picture, just the story it may tell. Both pictures taken with a Mamiya 645 1000s and a Mamiya-Sekor 80mm 1.9 lens. The film was ASA 100.

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013

Streets Belong to Dogs, Too

I have always looked at streets as a place for people. Well, that may not be totally correct given how many people are at the other end of a leash. Other than cute puppy pictures, I find it difficult to take pictures of dogs as part of my street photography. The traditional search for "master looking like his dog" does not excite me.
I have however taken a few dog pictures in an attempt to define a social moment. Be that an old bulldog waiting for his master who is visiting a shop, or a proud mix-of-a-dog wearing a painter's beret at a dog show, I always try to make the dog a representative of the story rather than the subject of a photograph.

The first photo was taken with an Ukrainian Salyut medium format camera and an expired Chinese Lucky film. The defects on the negative seem to make the peaceful slumber of these two dogs even more peaceful. Picture taken on a lake in Virginia.
The second is that famous bulldog waiting for his master. Don't you have the feeling that he has gone through this experience before? Picture from Fells Point, Maryland.
The third is from a Baltimore dog show. There is something cocky in that little dog's eyes, especially given the poster behind him!
The final one is about serenity and love. The wipers on the car seem to provide a perfect outlook to the snowy weekend. A split-second clicking on my Mamiya 645 to capture the tenderness. Taken in Columbia, Maryland.

©Vahé Kazandjian, 2013