Indifference, Mild Curiosity And Little Sympathy

At the Kampung Baru Ramadan Bazaar, a pan-handler sits in the middle of the road as pedestrians walk around him. I shot from both front and back. In the end, I think the anonymity of this rear view yielded a much more powerful image.

I photographed from a ground level P.O.V. (point-of-view), hoping to capture both the indifference, mild curiosity and little sympathy. The view as the beggar saw it.

This picture was processed to simulate the look of an un-restored P Ramlee movie from the 1960s. My homage to the colour contamination, scratches, dirt, decay, edge softness and uneven projector lamp brightness; characteristics that now evoke a special feeling.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/80 sec.

Indifference, Mild Curiosity And Little Sympathy

Cake Shop Boys

In tiny Kuala Klawang town, two boys wait for their father to go for basketball practice. I was speaking to their father who operates the only cake shop in town. The Raleigh bicycle in front of the shop belonged to the boys’ late grandfather.

What started as a Hainanese chicken rice shop 60 years ago, is now turned into the only cake shop in town. Mr Tan specialises in wedding cakes that somehow became popular with the local Orang Asli (aboriginal) people.

I like the natural and coincidental ‘Color Splash’ effect that is akin to the small town movie, Pleasantville. Everything else in the scene was already near colourless when I photographed it. I only had to remove a dash of red from the car tail light at the top right edge and a little rust on the drain cover.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f6.3, 1/125 sec.

Cake Shop Boys