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.

Personal Project: Merdeka Square

I continued my personal project with this set of photographs, which were taken at Merdeka Square here in Kuala Lumpur. I chose this location because it is a famous spot for tourists in the city, and has fantastic architecture. The design of the buildings is a combination of Islamic patterns and arches, and colonial brick and coloring. The square is large and striking, because the old infrastructure sticks out amongst the modern skyscrapers and city streets. The square is mostly filled with tourists and students, and so I supposed my father and I blended in well. Luckily, there weren’t any tour buses or groups blocking the buildings.

My favorite of these pictures are those that show the differing patterns, designs, and structure. There are pictures in which curving staircases cross with straight, tall palm trees, and that was what I was focusing on. Instead of taking touristy pictures, I was trying to focus on the contrast of inherently Malaysian architecture with the influence of the colonial era.

Portraits

This was our second group project, in which we chose the theme of portraits. Since I have done portraits before from last year, so I wanted to do something different for this project. Prior to this, I had only used the twin lens camera once, and it didn’t work very well. This time, I wanted to use the camera in a controlled environment, and the portrait project was perfect for that. I got four people to model for me, Frida, Vanaalika, Jai, and Mia. I took the pictures, just outside the photography room, where there was plenty of natural light. Once I made a contact sheet of the film, several of the pictures turned out to not be in focus.

A difficult part of the printing process with these pictures is that the film used is actually square. I used a different enlarger this time, which is in almost complete darkness. Getting used to this took some time, because I had some issues with getting the exposure and contrast correct. Getting the correct exposure while bringing out the detail in the white shirts took most of my time, actually.

Doing this project, I wanted to learn how to use the twin lense camera and print with the resulting photos. Using this different camera, I wanted to first learn how to get lighting right before I use it out of a controlled environment. In the future, I hope to use the twin lens in a different environment.

Larry Blackwood

Larry Blackwood is an American photographer who has spent forty years “exploring self-expression through photography”. Though he spent most of his adult life working in other professional fields, he lately has switched back to spending all of his time working on his photography. He has been featured in numerous photography collections and magazines, including Lenswork in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015.

           His Lenswork collection in 2008 called Elevation, and is a series of photographs featuring farm buildings and silos. What was interesting about this collection was the texture and contrast that created interest in what could have been boring and featureless pictures. Silos and farm buildings are usually generic, varying very little from silo to silo. Despite this apparent obstacle in originality, Blackwood was able to emphasize these minor difference and highlight them to create a wide variety of pictures. He did this by mostly focusing on lines and curves, but particularly shadows. Buildings and architecture that might have otherwise been overlooked are transformed to become stunning. Another interesting feature of the buildings that he highlights is the contrast of curves and straight lines. Usually the curves come from the silos, and the straight lines and angles come from the barns. This combination causes the eye to travel across the photograph smoothly in some parts and more rigidly in others. Another interesting feature are the shadows. In many pictures, half of the interest and fascination that this collection creates is made by the shadows. Some of the shadows come from the buildings themselves, and some from additions to them, like rickety old staircases. The stark contrast of the shadows and the harsh lights are sharp divisions between light and dark.

I was inspired by Blackwood to pursue architecture photography, not only for an assignment, but also for my personal project. I hope to apply his skills of control and texture in my own photographs. Beyond the simple subject of silos, Larry Blackwood captures a stunning contrast of light and dark, new and old, the best of times and the worst of times.  

http://larryblackwood.com/