The Poetry of Looking Through the Right Angle

I was reading about the upcoming exhibit of Le Corbusier’s “Le poem de l’angle droit” (The poem of the right angle) which will be at the Architekturmuseum in Munich.

Like any creative work, this poem was written in the form of 19 lithographs and long –hand writings by Le Corbusier from 1947 to 1953. The poem, which received little attention for decades, is now considered the Swiss-French architect’s vision of the cosmos as well as a kind of self portrait.

One of the lithographs is about “Caractère” and the 7 stanzas read:

The amazons are ready

      to leave to go to come back and

             to leave again and

      to fight combat always

      soldier.

      The amazons are young

      they do not grow old.

For some reason, Le Corbusier’s  interest in looking at the world according to some angle of view and the mention of amazons reminded me of photos from Vienna.

A look at a painting of the best known Empress of Austria, the Bavarian born Elisabeth best known as “Sissi” :

A street angle of view in Old Town Vienna at midnight:

... The amazons are young

      they do not grow old.

Well, neither do the right angles of view!

April 15, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018

Arizona People and Venues:Prescott, Sedona and Phoenix

I had not used my 1969 Nikon F for a while, so decided to give it some exercise on a trips to Arizona cities.

Prescott: I have posted photos from this charming cowboy town in the mountains of Arizona. Since it is Easter today, here is a street photo to stay in that spirit. The woman was wearing bunny ears, which is most appropriate on this day but would be out of context for the remaining days of the year!

But Prescott is also home for national social issues and reactions. Here is a moment from the Women's March. Note that the signs do address multiple social issues.

Phoenix:  As any metropolis, Phoenix is all brouhaha of cars and people. On an early Sunday morning I wanted to capture a slow moment. This woman seems to wonder why everyone is eager to go non stop.

Sedona: A city of magestic rock structures and spritualism. On a hike in the rocks, I noticed a man who had climbed high and staying at the edge of the rock. He was more than 500 meters away, and contre-jour. I wanted to test the prowess of my 1970's Nikkor 105mm portrait lens.
Here is the complete negative:

And the cropped segment showing the man:

The imperfections on the film give a feel of a starry evening sky -- and the joy of using film and mechanical cameras.

April 1, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018

Skunk Pigs Near my House

I do not take wildlife photos by going into the outdoors looking for animals. But when wildlife comes close to me and exhibits behavior of sharing areas populated by humans, my camera tries to identify behavior I usually look for in street photography.

… It is now cold at night in the high desert mountains of Arizona (-10C lately) and I see bobcat, coyote, deer and javelina on a daily basis close to our house. A couple of days ago a large herd of javelina (peccary) decided to check if any of the plants near our house were edible. There were 3 large males, 8 females, and at least 6 young ones.

A peccary, is a New World Pig. While not a true pig, there are a lot of anatomical similarities. The males can be large, reaching 100 kg, and have long tusks for attacking any danger to the herd. In Spanish they are called javelina, in Portuguese porco-do-mato, in French pakira, and in English skunk pig.

… So, decided to get as close as I can to take pictures of their behavior. Their eyesight is not good, but they can pick up a scent or sound from a long distance.

The males are the most photogenic given their size and constant vigil. The photo at the top was of the dominant male who allowed me to come as close as 15 meters with my 1970s Nikkor-H 180mm telephoto. After a few clicks, he decided to let me know that I should keep my distance by showing his formidable tusks. Here is a cropped section of the above photo showing the 15 cm tusks.

The rest of the herd relied on the males to guard and continued look for roots without often looking at me. I was careful to keep an eye on the males for my own safety, and at some point could only see two males. I looked around and suddenly was faced with this moment:

Here is a crop of the camouflaged younger male who was keeping an eye on me…

There were some tender moments between male and female

 One even felt comfortable enough to ignore my presence and continue scratching!

But at some point the dominant male decided that I was intruding too much. He started grinding his tusks to make a warning sound and then the hair on his back stood up. 

That was my signal to leave them alone.

February 25, 2018

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018

Arizona moments from Jerome and Sedona

I had not used my Zuiko100mm lens for a long time. It is good that in the desert the humidity is so low that I do not worry about fungus growth between the lens glasses. So, took my Olympus OM and the Zuiko lens for an outing.

I have posted photos from Jerome here https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2014/07/jerome-arizona.html and here https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-eclectic-town-of-jerome-arizona.html. It is a small once a mining town which today is home to artists and to those who want to dissociate themselves for a few hours from reality.

On this day I wanted to take only one photo challenging myself that it should represent a true moment in Jerome. It is like taking only one baitfish to go fishing, I suppose.

The street guitar player was photogenic, and the wall had a lot of texture. But I wanted a candid moment. So I waited for a while and it happened: a young lady came to empty her can of beer right in front of the guitar player. Such are the moments I hope for – unscripted and gone in a split of a second.

When I printed the photo, I thought of a muse-visit to inspire the artist.

Next trip was to Sedona, another artist-town in the high mountains. I have posted photos from Sedona here https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2014/07/sedona-arizona.html and here https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2017/12/cowboy-painter-joe-beeler-statue-in.html. The red rocks are unique in the world and again, artists find their inspiration there.

Again, I aimed at taking only one photo, and this time focusing on the train that passes through the town. After viewing perspective of the railroad through the 100mm lens, I realized that ant photo will be without a message. After all I am a street photographer and I need people not railroads or trains.

As I was waiting for the next train, a young lady also stopped at the crossing. She was checking her phone messages when the train passed. I thought messages and trains go well together. So do goodbyes and trains…

So, I set the shutter speed on my OM at 1/500 sec and opened the lens wide. I was hoping that with over exposure I will get some feeling associated with the speeding train and her checking her messages.

In my darkroom, I dodged parts of the photo during exposure. Maybe I got some of her feelings captured.

February 6, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018

Buildings that Tell a Story – from Singapore to Balaton, Hungary

As a street photographer eager to capture people in their cultural setting and daily activities, it is rare that I find myself in a city where people do not seem to be “acting up”. But it happens, and in times like that I try to capture the environment through an angle that can tell a story about the people.

I suppose that can be street photography in reverse.

Two places I have been, more than once where I have had a tough time photographing people. One was Singapore, the one-city country where the pace of life is to “choreographed” for a photographer. Nothing unusual seems to happen in the streets! On one trip, I decided to take a few photos in Singapore’s Little India. The main artery is Serangoon Road which was built in the early 1800s and passes through Singapore's Little India. It also served as a highway between town and the Serangoon harbor in the northeast.

Again, nothing unusual happened on that extremely busy road that day. So, I decided to capture a feel of Little India through the door of a tailor’s shop. The wide-open diaphragm of my Nikon F lens was able to delineate the dress inside the dark room and at the same time gave a dreamy feel of the building’s outside through overexposure.

In some way, this is the quietest moment I have experienced on Serangoon Road!

My second challenging experience as a street photographer was in Balaton, Hungary. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary and the largest lake in Central Europe. I stayed in a conference center which was part of the Soviet Politburo’s vacation destination a few decades ago. It was all concrete and square angles.

Yes, the lake is beautiful and the beaches full of people, but for me it was very asceptic. So, I looked around for a non-scripted angle and ended up with a photo of a building with character.

Of course, these two photos may not reflect what others have experienced in these environments, but they do testify to my moments in these two settings.

January28, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018

Lisbon Daily Moments

Found a couple of negatives in my "forgotten filmstrips shoe box" and played with them in my darkroom this morning. They are from Lisbon and the first one may have a unique angle of view.

I took this one from my hotel room at the Alif Hotel. I have stayed a few times and liked the fact that it was close to the bull fighting arena, the Campo Pequeno. Actually in Portugal the bull fight is really not a fight for life as in Spain. It is called tourada and is an athletic challenge between the fighters and the bulls. But no bull is killed in the fight.

When I was looking out of my room window, I saw this man on the spiral stairs. The cloths hanging to dry, the stairs, the man smoking a cigarette and the overall feel of the building had simplicity and a mystery.

This second photo is also from Lisbon, but I do not recall the name of the neighborhood. This time the buildings are in full sun and the woman sitting on the chair always reminds me of the Mediterranean tradition of a neighborhood. Indeed, while Portugal is not on the Mediterranean sea (but the Atlantic ocean) it is in the Mediterranean region and historically has been influenced by Mediterranean cultures, food, lifestyle and yes, attitude.

That is in part why I have always felt “at home” in Portugal.

January20, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018

Taipei As Few See It

I worked in Taiwan on various healthcare projects and academic endeavors for a decade. Like with many countries in South East Asia, I found cultural similarities but an identity in attitude that is very specific to each country and cities in those countries.

I know Taipei quite well as it was the focal city of my visits and work. If I have to say what comes to my mind as initial and overwhelming characteristic, I would say “busy”. Especially the streets. Especially at night. People, motorcycles and cars take every inch of navigable space and all in a delightful and peaceful harmony.

So, I decided to take a picture of Taipei that would be atypical. During my lunch break of a conference, I took my Mamiya 645 in search of such a shot. Street level photos always are about traffic and large numbers of people. So for this one I perched myself on one of the pedestrian bridges over the main artery waiting for that moment.

But what was I looking for?

It suddenly happened. For an unknown reason there was an open space in the traffic file! Not a small space, but there were no cars, scooters an people jamming the street. So I took a shot.

When I was printing it, I wanted to increase the surreal feeling even more. So I underexposed the photographic paper to a fraction of what I usually like. Indeed, my favorite exposure time is about 1.15 minute. In this case, I exposed it for only 20 seconds. It is not possible to do so with 35mm film, but 120mm captures amazing detail and can yield surprising prints.

… When I look at this photo I wonder “is this a reflection of Taipei at noon?” And, as with any photo the answer is always “yes” because I cannot capture what is not there. I can only place reality on a two-by-two dimension. But what I can do is to capture that which many do not see or happens rarely.

Still, a rare event is part of reality.

January 16, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018