SuperUJ
Well-known
Hi sgb,
Thanks. Would it be possible for you to mentioned the exhibition there as I am not a member of HKLFC. It will be great to meet you in person and share our experience. Will greatly appreciated it.
John
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
What I find so remarkable is the geography of NYC and Hong Kong. Both cities are centered around a rocky Island at the mouth of a river, both are major ports and banking centers, but on opposite sides of the planet.
In the same way New Yorkers are a breed apart from Americans, so are the Cantonese distinguished from the Chinese. Surrounded by mountains Canton and its people were considered ungovernable, while the rest of China was unified for almost a thousand years. Feudalism in Canton lasted a long-long time. I like to think that in my breeding (Cantonese) that part of me is like a Pit Bull because I was breed for fighting and to be aggressive. Also know that like New York a disproportionate amount of China's greatest writers, poets, and artists seem to come from Canton.
A land as restless as the sea that surrounds them combined by a people as tough and rugged as the mountains that made Canton a natural fortress. Anyways New York City and Hong Kong mirrors NYC in so many ways. I like to think of Kowloon where my dad is from as like Brooklyn. My mom was from Hong Kong.
BTW before 1972 95% of all Chinese in the U.S. were from one small provence in China called Canton. Perhaps that is why they say we all look alike. LOL. I think it was in 1973 that President Nixon normalized relations with China and immigration exploded.
Cal
In the same way New Yorkers are a breed apart from Americans, so are the Cantonese distinguished from the Chinese. Surrounded by mountains Canton and its people were considered ungovernable, while the rest of China was unified for almost a thousand years. Feudalism in Canton lasted a long-long time. I like to think that in my breeding (Cantonese) that part of me is like a Pit Bull because I was breed for fighting and to be aggressive. Also know that like New York a disproportionate amount of China's greatest writers, poets, and artists seem to come from Canton.
A land as restless as the sea that surrounds them combined by a people as tough and rugged as the mountains that made Canton a natural fortress. Anyways New York City and Hong Kong mirrors NYC in so many ways. I like to think of Kowloon where my dad is from as like Brooklyn. My mom was from Hong Kong.
BTW before 1972 95% of all Chinese in the U.S. were from one small provence in China called Canton. Perhaps that is why they say we all look alike. LOL. I think it was in 1973 that President Nixon normalized relations with China and immigration exploded.
Cal
SuperUJ
Well-known
Cal,
Another remarkable thing is RFF. Before I joined, I hung out on a couple other forums. For me, the NYC meetups and the civilized discussion make RFF unique. It has been very helpful for me as a photographer. Now that you see my project took place in Hong Kong, that helps explain the meetups that I missed
John
Another remarkable thing is RFF. Before I joined, I hung out on a couple other forums. For me, the NYC meetups and the civilized discussion make RFF unique. It has been very helpful for me as a photographer. Now that you see my project took place in Hong Kong, that helps explain the meetups that I missed
John
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Cal,
Another remarkable thing is RFF. Before I joined, I hung out on a couple other forums. For me, the NYC meetups and the civilized discussion make RFF unique. It has been very helpful for me as a photographer. Now that you see my project took place in Hong Kong, that helps explain the meetups that I missed
John
John,
I think it was in 2008 that the M9 made its debut and you began this project. I think all the traveling to the other side of the world shows how long-term this project is. Anyways call me a lazy slacker, and perhaps I have too short an attention span to get to where you have a published book.
Kinda resonates with the changing of New York.
Cal
SuperUJ
Well-known
Hi Cal,
I got my "early serial no." M9 in 2010 that commenced the project, and kept going back to Kowloon, Hong Kong until 2015 when I took the last image for the project. In this short 5 years, the changes in the particular neighborhood in Hong Kong were definitely noticeable. Meanwhile, the digital rangefinder camera technology has advanced. However, I look at the raw files from the M9 today, I am still impressed by the quality of the now 6 years old technology. Had I started it all over again today, I probably would use the M246 throughout, instead of mixing film with the M9. But, then my book would not have had the same historical value. Some of the landmarks no longer exist.
John
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
Thanks for adding the clarity to the timeline. Anyways all those Leica rangefinders look alike. LOL.
I have a similar situation between B&W 135 film, medium format, and Monochrom where I just created a huge headache. As you know having a rather disrupted life, I only got back into photography in 2007 during the Credit Crisis, that is when I first bought into Leica, and before that I was just a Nikon SLR shooter.
I photographed extensively the vast industrial area that divides Queens from Brooklyn during the Great Recession covering the 4 mile streach inland of Newtown Creek one of America's most polluted waterways. I also saw that redevelopment was underway, and I document a disappearing New York. Just one example is the Domino Sugar Refinery which is currently being dismantled and redeveloped.
I captured this moody loneliness and sense of abandonment that is conveyed in the landscape photographs shot in mostly medium format. Then comes the street photography to contrast with that loneliness that I captured shooting Leicas that contrasts against my landscapes. Then compound that with the landscapes and street shot with a Monochrom.
Anyways, what is a good way to get organized with such a long and still ongoing project. Your experience is greatly appreciated. I have likely 200K images to edit through. LOL. Right now I consider this a work in progress.
Cal
SuperUJ
Well-known
A quick update: The exhibition was well attended. It provides an opportunity for me to appreciate the beauty and power of the synergy from technologies of different generations: century old Stone Houses with an annex equipped with multimedia exhibition capabilities; a 50 year-old camera with modern lenses; Kodak Tri-X films with Piezography digital printing; etc. In addition to local Chinese media coverage, a review of the book and exhibition from China Daily today sums up nicely:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2016-04/05/content_24279892.htm
John
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2016-04/05/content_24279892.htm
John
Congrats John.
Out to Lunch
Ventor
I enjoyed the clip. Similar developments are taking place in Saigon today and I hope to document the process. Thanks for sharing!
SuperUJ
Well-known
Glad to hear. Speaking of the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to19k_c_NKU, I did not planned on having a video. Apparently, it's one of the popular things to do for book selling in Hong Kong. One of the bookstore chains suggested it seven days before the book launch. I scrambled to put it together. Good thing that there isn't short of film making professionals at that moment. As it turned out, the gallery could also provide a TV. The short clip was a hit on-site to help put things in context for visitors. So, I would recommend it.
I could imagine that changes in Saigon would probably be happening much faster. Shoot them while you can. Good luck with that.
John
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I was really glad to collaborate on this exhibition/project. What John did was not easy to pull off. This project spans years and extensive travel. I'm very happy that I had a role of making this exhibition happen.
Cal
Cal