June's Book review: The Mind's Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson

So you might have noticed things have been slow on the blog for the past 2 weeks, that's because I've been on holiday! Now that I'm back, there's so much to catch up on doing! I want to:

- blog about the ideas I've been having
- Finish the travel journal of my trip
- Think about some new goals for July
- Think about how to upgrade some of my hobbies

And lastly, I have to think about how to start on some of the above! So I will start with a book review of a book I was reading in June. 

The Mind's Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a photographer and photojournalist. Born in France in 1908, he passed away in 2004. He took many iconic photos throughout his travels as a photojournalist and is most famous for coining the concept of the 'decisive moment'. (More on that later.) The book is a compilation of his writings from his photobooks and also includes essays on his travels.

I bought this book a long time back because I was intrigued by the idea of the decisive moment. I took it to mean a sudden instant in time where suddenly a great photographic shot would present itself. Before I left overseas, I thought it would be good to read the book on the way so that I might get some insight on how to find that 'decisive moment' on my trip. 

While I wasn't entirely wrong about the decisive moment, I wasn't entirely right either as I found out from reading the book. I was intrigued enough to pick up another biography on Cartier-Bresson at a flea market later on holiday to find out more and from that book I learnt more about his style of photography. (blog idea: An essay on Cartier-Bresson!)

I would recommend Part 1 for photography enthusiasts. Here, Cartier-Bresson speaks from his perspective about what photography means to him and draws comparisons between photography and drawing. Keep in mind though that he worked a lot during the era of film, so you may have to understand a bit of film processing to really understand his views on darkroom processing and colour film. 

Part 2 and 3 then moves on to essays on his travels and on the people he knows. Here are the chapters that some may skip but if you have to, read what he observes about travelling to Russia or China. After all, photography is not just the blind taking of photos, it is also about capturing life and how do you capture life if you are not a keen observer of it? 

Overall, I found the book an easy read and it also inspired me enough to learn more about Cartier-Bresson, which I would write about later. (future blog post!) To me, a book that does that, is a good book indeed. :) 

Women: New Portraits by Annie Leibovitz

Today (Sunday, May 8) I went to the Annie Leibovitz photo exhibition at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. Since one of my personal goals is to improve my photography, I thought it would be worthwhile to learn from a master, oops, mistress of the craft.

I was only armed with a humble iPhone and my lacklustre skill, so no comparisons hor...

 The exhibition was sponsored by UBS and it's a world tour which began in London in January. Other countries on the world tour include New York, Zurich, Tokyo and Hongkong.

The Exhibition Hall

While walking, I notice some light and movement inside the old ticket counter. What the...?

When I walked in, I realized they had created a reading nook inside. There were chairs and sofas and photography books from a wide variety of photographers for you to browse through.

While the area looked tempting, I couldn't stay for more than 5 minutes because it was just too hot! There were 2 reading nooks and both only had the standing air con unit for ventilation so the room became very stuffy and humid very quickly. 

This is the book which you can find her works from the exhibition as well as many more. I think I would rather browse it at Kino......

The print photographs displayed were of various well-known female figures from politics and the arts and others. I don't know if I can accurate pinpoint or describe the Leibovitz style but there were 2 points that struck me in the photos I saw:

She took photos of her subjects in their own comfort zones.
Adele was taken while seated at a piano, a prominent historian was taken while in her study, and a US ambassador in her office. The subjects weren't always the major focus of the photo and they were placed in a setting that expanded our understanding of them. So for example, in the photo of Adele, we do not see her just as Adele, we would see her as Adele, the Musician.

This is interesting because when we think of portrait photography, we always think that we should focus on the person and the face. Most commonly, we think of the studio shot, shot against a plain background. Leibovitz shows that a portrait can be taken out of the studio in order to show more of the character behind the face.

Her subjects show strength and vulnerability at the same time
I'm not sure if this was because of the rapport between the photographer and the subject or because of the subject chosen. Most of the women in the photos seem to show this contrasting dichotomy. Could it be because as working women, we are expected to be strong but yet we still have an inherent softness? Ah, I'll let my feminist friends argue that point out... 

Most striking were the 2 photos of Yoko Ono. One was a Rolling Stones cover which showed her and John Lennon in the same bed. The other was a close up of Yoko Ono's face. There seemed to be years of difference between the two but the captions will tell you that the photos were taken only 1 year apart. A few hours after the Rolling Stones cover photo was taken, Lennon was shot. And the grief and misery was clearly apparent on Yoko's 2nd photo.

All in all, I liked the exhibition though I wish that more photos were displayed and that they had better ventilation! If you want to visit, the exhibition is on till 22 May. Read more about the exhibition by clicking on these little highlighted words.

River Hongbao Festival 2016 and Monkey Kings Galore

[original post: 13 February 2016]

On a Friday night, we went to the River Hongbao festival, held at the Floating Platform. The festival was originally intended to be a showcase of Chinese culture during the Lunar New Year. This year, when I went, it seems more like a light-up display of the Monkey King and a place to get ripped off for food and funfair games. (Whatever makes people happy...) 

Regardless, it still makes it an interesting place for a photowalk! For this, I opted for my digital Sony RX5000 because I only had ISO400 film in my film camera, which would not be strong enough to capture the people at the fair. I also used the Intelligent Auto mode, which would automatically choose the best mode to shoot in, so I could concentrate on taking photos. 

The Light-Up Displays

Monkey see, Monkey do

It's not CNY without the God of Fortune

It being the Year of the Monkey, the Monkey King is out in full force.

The hub surprisingly turned out to be a huge Monkey King drama fan. Having watched several versions of the saga, he could name almost all the characters here. 

Pawk, pawk, pawk, pawk........

Here, we saw people throwing coins at this lotus. Turns out that there are bells attached to couplets. Hit 'Gong Xi Fa Cai' and maybe you will strike it rich...? Well, the one who will strike it is most likely the TCM clinic offering free TCM treatment to the needy, because that's where all the coins will go to. All in a good cause......

Most people will aim for 'Xing Xiang Shi Chen' because it's in the middle and pretty much covers every wish you could wish for. Though the hub and I think that if you flung every coin you had at the 5 bells, you are bound to hit at least one of them. The TCM clinic will also be very grateful to you.

I got it!!!!!

 "You can buy a balloon from me... If you know where to find me......."

Nice... Candy art from China. He pours liquid candy and forms it into the shapes of zodiac animals. (Here he makes a dragon) When he is done, he will stick it onto a stick for you to eat. What a shame to do so, after all it's such a nice piece of art....

The Game Stalls

Lesson of Life: Rising COE prices may mean that this is the only car you will ever get to drive.

 "Is he gonna get it?? Is he gonna get it????"

 Lesson of Life: It is easier to hook a plastic fish than to hook a good man.

 "Imma gonna BINGO!!!" (Unfortunately, he didn't have 2 numbers to form a straight line. Lesson of Life: The House always wins.)

"Step right up! Try your luck!"

 And we finish off just in time to see a Monkey King performance at the Esplanade's outdoor theatre. 

The River Hongbao ends today, Feb 14, and there will be fireworks at 9pm so try to go around that time if you intend to do so.