Early Morning Walk in Taipei, Taiwan

Some of the feedback I received from my June 16 posting was about the photo of Taiwanese military police raising the national flag  The readers appreciated the angle and framing of the photo as all pictures on the Internet seem to show the soldiers equidistant from the flag pole.

So, I went back to my unpublished Taiwan photos and found a few that had special meaning to me. That is, they were taken very early in the morning, during my walks before I started work at 7:30 am.

The first two photos have an additional story associated with them. On that trip, sometimes early in the 1990s, I had taken a Pentax 1000 35mm and a Yashica 124 medium format cameras with me. Given the age of my cameras, I always take a backup. 

That morning, I went to the wet market where animals of all feather and skin are sold along with non-meat foodstuff. It was very dark and humid when I got there and the sellers were getting their stands ready. This photo, taken with the Pentax 1000 and ASA 100 film captures that moment.  

On my way out I passed by a small temple in front of which dogs had yet to start their day. The motorcycle represents the most popular mode of transport in many Asian cities, and the combination of shade, humidity that could be felt from this photo, and the dog's posture reminds my of many a morning walk I have taken in that lovely city.

Ok, here is the additional story associated with these photos. The next morning, when I was to reload the Pentax with a new roll of film, the winder jammed and I could not release the shutter. I put it back in my suitcase and used the Yashica for the rest of the trip.

Back to Baltimore, I called a few camera repair places. The answer I got was the same "we do not work on antique cameras." Antique! It is from 1979 and has a light meter! Anyhow, I put it on the shelf and forgot about it.

A couple of years ago, I got the nostalgic urge to use it again. This time I check YouTube for repair advice.  And there it was -- the most common weak point to the camera and its predecessor the Honeywell Pentax, which I also have and has never jammed for the past 40 or so years. And the repair was simple once you take the base plate off.

Now my Pentax is as delightful to use as in the 1980s when I acquired it.

The following picture is from the same trip but with the Yashica 124. I took it on an early climb of the small mountain behind the Grand Hotel where I was staying. There was something anthropomorphic in the posture of these mops, and abundantly Asian.

All three of this photos represent daily scenes from Taipei. But perhaps I was able to capture them with a personal touch and angle.

 

June 26, 2021

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021

Unpublished Photos Acquire New Meaning With Time __ Taipei, Porto, Barcelona and Ferrara

It is 104 degree Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) outside and the Southwest is praying for rain. It is a good day to put some order in my studio.

One of my favorite activity is to ope a box written "rejects" on it. These are photos I actually printed under the old enlarger but did not like the result. Often because they do not tell a story or the story has been told in other photos I have taken. I like going back to decades-old photos because during that time the world has changed and even a technically imperfect photo now is a testimony or a testimonial of days irreversible.  For a street photographer that is photojournalism at its best.

I chose four photos that now have a new meaning relative to the moment I had taken them. All four are from the 1990s or 2000, but I have not written the exact dates on them.

A. Taipei, Taiwan. I traveled often to Taiwan as an academic and researcher the entire decade of 2000. Before starting my work days, I used to take my camera and walk the streets just after sunrise. This photo is from the main square and the moment is the flag raising daily ceremony.

Since these days much has changed in the geo-politics of the region. I am not sure if the ceremony continues and which flag is now raised. But this washed-out photo is a frame in a time that has surely changed.

B. Porto, Portugal. An evening shot through the window of a charcuterie. I always used ASA 100 film, so the shadows and some of the focus are unappealing. But it was a time when crowded shops hardly had space for people as all the food was either hanging from the ceiling or piled out in the aisles. And no one wore a mask then....

C. Barcelona, Spain. This is an evening in Las Ramblas. The singers were there for the tourists, of course. As I looked at this underexposed photo, I recalled reading an article about this famous three-lane street in 2020. Residents were almost happy that there were no tourists because of the pandemic and they were quoted saying "Las Ramblas are ours again!". A silver lining in all that befalls upon us.

D. Ferrara, Italy. This photo has a haunting character to it. I took it in the court of the Ferrara Cathedral a magnificently Romanesque style cathedral dating from the 12th century. During all my trips to Ferrara I stayed in a pension across from the cathedral and recall the joy of having espresso on the minuscule balcony every morning.

This photo is of a man dressed as a woman and holding a doll en guise of a baby. "She" had a small pan to collect donations impersonating a homeless refugee. Of course everyone was generously donating till this young boy saw the face covering move and exposing a dark and full beard! I clicked just before "she" covered her face and was asked to leave.

Since that day, thousands and thousands refugees crossed the Mediterannean Sea for Italy, Spain and Greece.

.... I have thousands of reject photos and even more unprinted frames on miles of 35mm and medium format film negatives. I hope the heat and the drought in the Southwest break soon so I do not looking through these next.

June 16, 2021

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021

 A. Kazandjian, 2021