Dear Vicky: The Nocturnal
Hello, everyone!
How’s your weekend?
Right now Dublin is being battered by a winter storm, high wind and a lot of rain. It’s fun.
You know that feeling sometimes when you see something, it sticks with you? Over the weekend, the almighty algorithm of Substack pushed a note into my feed. It’s a black and white portrait of a woman from head to shoulder. The caption reads: Fine art black and white portrait…. I was able to get past the idea of someone trying to sell what looks like a LinkedIn profile photo of a random person online. What got me was at the end of the caption, the word “noctilux,” all in lower case. What’s the deal with that? The photo didn’t appear to have been shot with a wide-open aperture. So it could’ve been a summicron or an elmar. Does the price tag of the lens elevate the photo itself? Am I missing something here? I sound like an asshole when I write about this kind of stuff, but it’s been bugging me for a couple of days now. So I am inviting you to suffer with me. As a sometimes embarrassed Leica owner, I’ve got a lot to say about this whole thing about the self-important nature of Leica owners, which I won’t bore you with. On the other side of the coin, the Leica bashers are just as bad. They act like they are the bravest people on the internet who dare to tell you the truth. I understand it’s the social media age, and everything is “content.” At the end of the day, it’s just a tool, so, please, don’t be a tool!
That’s the end of my rambling.
Some moderately good news before we get to today’s photos: we got a new tv. It replaced the old one we brought over from Hong Kong, purchased over 10 years ago: the cheapest TV we could find at the time. With the new TV, I’ve been watching more films. Do you know watching films on a big tv is a much better experience than on an iPad? Spread the word about my groundbreaking finding. This past weekend, I finished the Trois Couleurs trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski and the Noriko trilogy by Ozu Yasujiro, starring the incomparable Hara Setsuko. Pretty good weekend!
I just realised this year is the 20th anniversary of my first DSLR purchase. It was a Nikon D70s. How time flies!
During my Hong Kong trip, I thought about the time I spent with my cameras. It occurred to me that taking photos had always been an afterthought for me. I always take a photo here and there when I come upon something while going about whatever. I almost never go out with a camera just to take photos, and this has become my main reason for not considering myself a photographer. One other major reason being I am not living off of it. And it was then, I decided to change that. When I got some free time in Hong Kong-usually at night, when Baby G was asleep-I went out just to take photos.
It just so happened that my lab had the self-spooled Kodak 5219 cinefilm, more commonly known as the 500T. This was the real 500T, with the remjet on. The film cost around 9USD a roll, and development/scan cost another 8-9 USD, which added up to the price of half a roll of Portra 800. I had to try it, of course. And I knew just the perfect subject for this film stock— the neons of Hong Kong.
Cue the funny failure music, coz as soon as I stepped out of my hotel, my plan to shoot just the neon lights fell apart. I started shooting, well, everything I saw. After the first roll came back, I loved it so much, I shot another two rolls, and brought a few rolls back to Dublin. Also, this film stock made me want to print stuff out. They are print material, in my opinion. Anyway, here’s some shots from the first roll. It covered Hong Kong island between North Point and Sheung Wan, not that you’ve asked.
A busy entrance to a building. The neon on top is foot massage; the green sign in the middle is a bookstore, and sign on the bottom left is film dev/printing. Good value for money I think.
Guy waiting for the summon of the barbecue king.
Neon sign of a pawnshop and a soulless lightbox of a Circle K. “Soulless” is me editorialising, but I think we can all agree it’s justified.
Man and Forever Lounge. The Chinese name translates to amour or deep love.
Another pawn in my game…
The nocturnals of Causeway Bay.
Sex shop mail slots.
Fish ball noodle shop and minibus. It doesn’t get much more Hong Kong than this.
Closing time.
Neon sign of Tai Ping Koon Restaurant and a couple. The restaurant started in Canton in 1860.
Ugh! Leica!
Late night newsstand.
Hong Kong Fishball King, as the neon says.
Pawnshop and foam boxes.
Neon, Boston Restaurant, another old establishment in Hong Kong.
A Japanese restaurant, Wan Chai.
A message for Santa.
Entrance and window. I waited for a human appearance, but I failed.
Lin Heung Teahouse, one of the remaining old school dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong. The restaurant relocated across the Vicky Harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui, but they kept the neon signs
Central, and a pawnshop.
In honour of the No Photo sign.
Crossroad, and neons.
And that’s it for today. Have a good week! Until we meet again!
Let me start with your 'rambling': I couldn't agree more. I can't stand the profile shots that 'feature' the Leica brand logo quasi inconspicuously, almost like it's a statement about the 'professionalism' of the owner. On the other hand, hating the brand is denying there are lots of people who buy a Leica who are serious about photography and are just happy they own a good camera. All cameras are tools indeed!
On your second opinion, I tend to disagree. "I almost never go out with a camera just to take photos, and this has become my main reason for not considering myself a photographer." The first part of that sentence just tells something about your photo habits, and have little to do with the consideration if you're a photographer or not. You consciously take photos and present them to others, I'd say that's enough to consider yourself a photographer. The fact it's not your job, doesn't matter. In HK, "when Baby G was asleep-I went out just to take photos." So you do go out to take photos!
I don't know if it's because of the 500T film, but these night photos do indeed look good! The nocturnals of Causeway bay is a terrific shot, just as the minibus photo, the Wan Chai and the Lin Heung teahouse. Don't sell yourself short, my friend, you are a photographer!
Nikon D70 was my first digital SLR as well. Your images are very inspiring. Thank you for posting.