Showing posts with label TLR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TLR. Show all posts

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Featured Artist Series : Deanna Ng

Bali Pasar 07 series © Deanna Ng

My recent trip short trip to Singapore served as an introduction to me in various ways. I was to visit the Biennale, which I will post later. The other was to meet some photographers and galleries in the City; one, being freelance photographer Deanna Ng. (www.deannang.com)

I came across Deanna's work through her website whilst researching into the photography scene in the Island City. We met at Bugis MRT one evening, and talked about how she came into photography only some 3 years ago, and she now teaches basic photography classes at Objectifs, which we visited, a short walk away. Deanna shoots with a Rolleicord TLR camera and also a digital Nikon DSLR, and freelances commercially, working on medium term projects as well as fitting in with her love for travel. She told me she had just returned from Vietnam, and will be going to South India at the end of the week on a photo workshop.

She describes herself as a documentary photographer, specialising in people, portraits and offbeat travel images. This is a pretty accurate definition from what I can gather from her series on street markets in Singapore, Bali and Siem Reap. Her observational skills are impeccable whilst the 'off-centre' framing and sloping horizontals adds to her signature.


Padang, Indonesia 2006 © Deanna Ng

She eluded that it may be easier for a camera totting female to get more intimate shots than her male counterparts, especially in street markets where her non-threatening and approachable demeanor with her subjects takes on a friendly rapport. The 'hit and run' approach to street photography that so many of us often practice means little for Deanna, preferring the 'ask first, then shoot' philosophy
.


Jimmy, Singapore © Deanna Ng

By gaining the subject's confidence and connecting through conversation, this allows the photographer a new avenue of opportunity in obtaining different images, often, much more relaxed and unposed pictures as can be seen in her work and in many of the great documentary photographers that we know.


Pit, No.2. Moberly, Missouri © Deanna Ng

In 2006, Deanna was selected to participate in the prestigious Missouri Photo Workshop as an International Participant. Her photo-essay project 'Pit' covered a typical American pastime...stockcar racing on a Saturday night, photographing families in trailers, racing cars and the local enthusiasts. Undoubtedly, she has gained from that experience, as a documentary photographer. By immersing herself within the life story, her pictures are worth more than those taken by a mere visitor.


Friday, 20 June 2008

Fun of the Fair

Last Friday morning, I ventured out with one trusty old Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex camera that's as ol' as me, and some expired Fujifilm NPC160 colour film which I rescued from the depths of my fridge in amongst the eggs and cheese, in an attempt to photograph a funfair that was being set up for the weekend's local crowd.




I have not used the Flex for a long while, it was probably about 3 years ago when I photographed my mother's portrait and it just sits on my bookcase looking pretty sorry for itself. I do occasionally 'play' with it, running a series of shots through the speeds from 1s - 1/500th s, to keep the shutter blades from seizing up.


From the moment I load the 120 film into the camera, it evokes a totally different approach to photography. Less hurried and more calculated, and definitely a pleasure to use. I often think of the past press and journalist photographers who used these cameras day in and day out, having to changed film rolls every 12 shots, whilst trying to cover a story unfolding before them, no wonder when the 35mm format came out, the Leica's and early Nikon Fs took over in a big way.



Nevertheless, many documentary photographers continued using these 6x6 tlrs because of the large square format, its beautiful lens renditions and I think, most importantly, its indirect, waist level finder. Diane Arbus used it for a number of years, and made many memorable portraits from her Rolleiflex.

I got to the fairground early and the grounds people were still setting up their contraptions, rides and bouncy-castles. These fairground people are real hardy in someways. They traverse the country from ground to ground, weekends to weekends, setting up and putting down their rides, and they live mainly in tow along caravans, complete with portable gardens, pets, and clotheslines. I got chatting to the owner of the Spinball ride. He told me that time are getting tough, rides cannot increase too much as it will drive customers away, however, fuel and transport cost are soaring. Still, they must eeked out a decent living running fairground rides. I do see many luxury 4x4s towing their caravans!




The fair had yet to open to the public when I got there so all of the rides and stalls were still shut. I love the atmosphere of anticipation. The surreal quality of the late morning light and the dead quiet of the funfair lends itself to a bizarre setting. 'Just add people' and the scene before will change.


I shot 3 rolls of NPC 160 in about 30 minutes, taking time to compose each shot, and check exposure with a manual meter. I am pretty good at guessing, using the Sunny 16 rule, but conditions were changeable and the sun was peeping in and out behind the clouds all the time.


I found that using an old camera such as the Rolleiflex, instead of a great big black hunk of a plastic monstrosity, people tend not to feel 'threatened' by you, it almost always become a talking point, like ''wow, that's a really old camera'' or ''what a nice camera'', and that breaks the ice for some stirring portraits. Unfortunately there were hardly any people worth photographing as the handful that were there were all busy setting up and I did not want to distract them from their activities.


Waiting for the processed film was again, like a child waiting to get home to play with his new toy. It was ages! Well, the 3 hours wait did feel like that compared with the digital process. I was, in the end, pleased with the outcome, and had a few usable images. The sun had become too high for any sort of effect I was searching, but at least I knew that the camera is still a capable machine and the expired film was decent.

I will at least look more kindly upon the Rolleiflex the next time I am dusting the bookshelf. Mind you I have decided to bring it to KL for the upcoming workshops!