Batu Caves

This Friday, I visited Batu Caves during Cultural Convention, along with thirty other students from all the IASAS schools. Having been to Batu Caves before, and climbed the stairs the last time, my friends and I decided to explore the area surrounding the caves.There was a market area that was nearly empty, a wedding taking place in a temple nearby, hundreds of pigeons, and stalls that sold desserts and coconuts. For this excursion, I decided to focus on portraits, which is something I don't usually do. However, I figured that the outfits, faces, and activities of the people that were surrounding Batu Caves were fascinating.

Kuala Lumpur Skyline

Ho Chi Minh City

Over Christmas break, my family and I travelled to Vietnam. We stayed in Ho Chi Minh City for a few nights, and got to walk around the area near our hotel before we travelled to an island to relax by the beach. The interesting thing about Ho Chi Minh is that is a combination of two very different cultures: Southeast Asian and French. The city (which was still referred to as Saigon by all the locals we met) had the architecture of its colonial heritage in some areas, such as the stores, the wide boulevard, and the churches. But the filling of the city was distinctly true to Vietnamese culture. Walking down the streets, there was an astronomical number of motorcycles that were consistently trying to kill all the pedestrians, and lively sidewalk restaurants and vendors. What I particularly liked about the city is something that a lot of modern cities lack, particularly in Asia. It seemed to embrace all aspects of its history and culture, from French colonialism to war to its Socialist regimes that seems hardly present on the forefront of its society. Ho Chi Minh was messy and nuts but incredibly fun as well.

Architecture: Thean Hou Temple

It’s now a new school year, but I am continuing my Malaysian architecture project that I started last year. Malaysian architecture is interesting because there are so many cultures that are mixed together here. Malay and Arabic architecture is blended with colonial buildings, Indian motifs, and Chinese temples. Surrounding all of these cultural influences are towering skyscrapers. For this shoot, I shifted from Malay architecture to Chinese, and visited Thean Hou Temple, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Built in 1989, it is situated on the top of a hill, pretty much hidden from view by trees, but it has a fantastic view of downtown KL, where the landscape is dominated by Menara Tower and the Petronas Towers.

Thean Hou temple maintains the Chinese heritage of Malaysia admirably. There were people still visiting the temple, along with several tourists. The temple featured, differing from Malay architecture, details that are fascinating both from a distance and up close.  There are dragons that are carved into columns and that sit on the roof.

The weather was fantastic when I was taking the pictures, because the sky was unusually clear, and sunny. However, it was not so bright that it washed everything out. When printing the pictures, the sky appear white, with little detail to make it distinct, so I left them mostly white instead of darkening it. I heightened the contrast as well so that the detail in the architecture stood out.

This shoot was interesting because of how different it was from my previous ones. I had focused on Malay architecture before this, but I expanded into Chinese architecture. It is just as Malaysian as Malay, and in many ways it surpasses Malay architecture in complexity and interest.

Cyanotypes

Mixing the chemicals

Dissolve the chemicals in water to make two separate solutions. Add Ammonium ferric citrate to water into one container and Potassium ferricyanide to water in another. Stir with a plastic spoon until the chemicals dissolve. Mix equal quantities of each solution together in a third container. Unused solutions can be stored separately in brown bottles away from light, but will not last very long once they have been mixed. Dispose of any unused chemicals in a sensible and environmentally friendly way!

Your work area

Your floors, carpets, walls, work surfaces, clothes and skin can be stained by the chemicals. Cover all possible areas, use rubber gloves and an apron or an old shirt to work in. If you have the space, choose an area where you can spread out. Ordinary light bulbs or tungsten light is safe to use, but UV light will affect your prints. Some fluorescent lighting may also affect your prints.

Preparing the canvas

Using a brush, simply paint the chemicals onto the material. Paper, card, textiles or any natural material can be used to print on. Decide how big your print is going to be, and cut your material to size. Make sure your working area is dimly lit, or lit with a low-level tungsten bulb. Once the material is coated, leave it to dry in the dark.

Printing the cyanotype

Print a cyanotype by placing your negative (to reproduce a photograph) or object (to make a photogram) in contact with your coated paper or fabric. Sandwich it with a piece of glass. Expose the sandwich to UV light. Natural sunlight is the traditional light source, but UV lamps can also be used. A photogram can also be made by placing items on the surface. Plants, decorative items or other objects can be used to create silhouettes or interesting shapes. Exposure times can vary from a few minutes to several hours, depending on how strong your lightsource is or the season where you are printing.

Processing and drying

When the print has been exposed, process your print by rinsing it in cold water. The wash also removes any unexposed chemicals. Wash for at least 5 minutes, until all chemicals are removed and the water runs clear. Oxidation is also hastened this way – bringing out the blue color. The final print can now be hung to dry and be admired.

Personal Project: Old Railway Station

I continued with my personal project of architecture by going to the Old Railway Station in Kuala Lumpur. It is a grand old building, built in the colonial days in the early 20th century that still runs train out of it to this day. The facade is a brilliant white, and shows a mix of the ethnic culture of Malaysia as well as a mix of the old colonial days. I think that the railway station is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, making a stark contrast with the skyscrapers that stand nearby.

For this shoot I used a twin lens camera, as I had for my last portrait project. This was the first time I had used it out on the streets, which definitely takes some getting used to. Thankfully, it wasn’t crowded there, so I could at least stand in the middle of the sidewalk and take several minutes advancing the film and focusing like some sort of annoying hipster tourist. A challenge with it was that getting an entire building and vastness of it was difficult in the square shape of the film. The end results were surprising because of the level of detail, especially from a distance. Hopefully, i can go out and try again, this time with a tripod so as to get more detail in the indoor pictures without the accidental movement. I would love to use the twin lens for architecture in the future so as to continue to achieve that high level of detail. I have been very happy with the results of the twin lens for architecture, more than I was with my portraits.

I have always had a sort of love-hate relationship with street photography in that I love to see other people’s work, but always end up being incredibly frustrated with it when I try to do it myself. I spent a lot of time last semester going to a few markets, trying to capture the vibrant life of the streets. Last semester I only used film, but this time when I did street photography in Hanoi, Vietnam, I used digital. I think that with street photography, I preferred the digital because it allowed for the bright colors that are so important to life. Having rolls and rolls of film from street, I found that the color allowed by digital brought a better depth and focus to the pictures.

For this shoot in Hanoi, I tried to focus on the faces of the people that filled the streets, and in particular the expressions they showed. Admittedly, I had preconceived notions of how the Vietnamese locals would react to having their photo taken. I thought they would refuse, or even become annoyed, as I had encountered here in Malaysia. However, it turned out that for the most part they were excited to have their picture taken, even wanting to see them afterwards. Another plus of having the digital was that I could show the locals their picture after it was taken. One of the photographs, the one of the man in a leather jacket, is interesting to me because he looks grumpy. A second after the picture was taken, the man smiled broadly and laughed, ecstatic to see his portrait. The entire time I took photos was like that. I assumed, erroneously, that the people of Vietnam wouldn’t welcome my being there, but instead they were welcoming and kind.