鸡场街的倒影
上个星期难得有空，便和Dylan到闻名的鸡场街（也叫文化街）街拍。我们已经在鸡场街街拍摄了几次，而这次又到鸡场街是给自己的挑战。一直寻找着完美，几乎忘了那不完美的存在、那不一样的感觉。
常常欣赏网上和朋友们的鸡场街照片，觉得都是很复古，很优美的马六甲老街。我和朋友们一起也拍摄过的几条街，豆腐街、打铁街、青云亭街、马车街、海山街等等，也一样追求完美的照片：大热天的蓝天白云、复古混合殖民式的建筑物、还有那满街好奇的游客。
这次和Dylan出来街拍，我们希望能随性而不追求这完美的照片。不必在乎角度、曝光，只要感觉对了就按下快门。
拿了妹妹的Panasonic傻瓜相机，我们便出发了！轻轻松松的走向那鸡场街,寻找不起眼的事物、不一样的感觉：
moody evening of Jonker Street
Looking back of old photos sometimes gives us some clue of our development in photography. And early this week, I flashed back the old albums in juesatta and realised that the style of my photography has changed throughout the years. Something I’ve gained and that something is also missing.
I wanted to looking for something that missing…
Two days ago Dylan and I decided to do street photography again. Besides favoring the nostalgic street, we chose Jonker Street again where we did street photography a few times, so that we could know how far we could go when shooting at the same location.
That afternoon when we arrived, I told Dylan, “Let’s forget about what we’ve learnt of photography: composition, exposure, and quality. Put those lesson 101 aside and shoot only what we feel like shooting.”
And Dylan said to me, “Right! Rules are made to be broken.”
Like a wise person once said: if you intend to break a rule you should always learn it first to make sure you’re breaking of it is all the more effective! Then we’d decided to give a go.
Without relying on the decent performance DSLR camera I have, I grabbed my sister’s Panasonic compact camera and we were off searching for the ‘feel’ of street.
Thanks to Dylan for the company and we had so much fun learning together. May all beings be happy.
Outcome of the shooting session:
junction of Jalan Tokong
Parellel to the famous Jonker Street, there is a street which has three coexisting places of worship: Kampung Kling Mosque, Cheng Hoon Teng Chinese Temple, and Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Hindu Temple. It is Jalan Tokong (tokong means temple in Malay) and also known as the “Street of Harmony” by the locals, showing the harmony amongst the people in Malaysia.
While having a free time this Monday, Kenn-Wai and I decided to do a casual street shooting in the old town of Melaka. We just wanted to shoot for leisure and snap whatever we like on that day, even though we shoot photos always for actual events. We met in Jonker Street and setup our gear before Kenn-Wai suggested to go to Jalan Tokong.
It was drizzling in the afternoon when we started our journey in Jalan Tokong. Most of the shops were about to close then street was getting quiet and occupied with only a few tourists and locals. We spent first half of the session at the junction of Jalan Tokong and Jalan Hang Lekiu waiting for the right subject such as senior citizens and tourists to pass this intersection.
From the junction we could see the three of the places of worship. This was one of the reasons we chose to go Jalan Tokong. Not to mention that the three places of worship, Kampung Kling Mosque, Cheng Hoon Teng Chinese Temple, and Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Hindu Temple are one of the oldest temples and mosque in our country, they are also built along the same street and near to one another.
The area is now predominantly occupied by Chinese though, the presence of the mosque and the Indian temple suggests that this area was once lived by a multi ethnic community that was able to live harmoniously together. Besides, Jalan Tokong is made more thrilling by the Chinese traditional trades. We discovered some Chinese effigy makers and shops that sell red and gold lanterns, paper money and Chinese funerary necessities along the street.
We continued along the street and took a few shots outside the Kampung Kling Mosque, went into the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple to pay respect and photo-taking, and finally went to the Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple which were close for visiting during that time. After an hour of relaxing photo-taking, Kenn Wai had an appointment and had called off the shooting session.
The outing was splendid and allowed both Kenn-Wai and I to realise how far we could go comparing our currents shots with the photos from the last few street shooting in that area. Again, Kenn-Wai taught me a lot of things humbly and benefited me even more.
Thanks to Kenn-Wai for inviting me for the shooting and sharing the experience with him. I am looking for the next outing for street shooting in the near future. May all beings be happy. Share some shots which I took:
Nan-Tong Paper Model Shop
senior citizens relaxing at the temple Cheng Hoon Teng
Guardian Lion of Chinese Temple
a shop for stone sculptures
Street of Harmony
one of the oldest mosques in Malaysia, Kampung Kling Mosque
riding bike on the street
inside one of the oldest Hindu temples in Malaysia, Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple
an old shop in Jalan Tokong
rusty ring
street photography outing in old town of Melaka with, from left: Iu-Lung, Timothy (blocked), and Denny
The 11th of August was Awal Ramadan, the beginning of Islamic month of fasting. Within these 29 or 30 days per lunar sighting of Ramadan month, participating Muslims all over the world refrain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset. It is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. Thus the significant first day of Ramadan is declared public holiday for the states of Johor, Kedah and Melaka.
a street view of Jalan Tukang Besi
On this first day of Ramadan last week, everyone in Melaka was having a day off and so to the students, Timothy, Iu-Lung, and Denny, whom I met from photonian. They then organised a street shooting around Jonker Street and were inviting others to join. Since I was having lunch at Jason’s house, which near to that area, I called up Timothy to join them and was hoping to learn from them. Timothy, Iu-Lung and Denny are no Malaccan but from Bintulu, Tampin and Kuala Lumpur relatively. They are current students of the Multimedia University in Melaka, and they are really passionate in photography.
The three of them display great skills yet diverse in their style from each other. Tim, who is active in the university’s photography event always likes to try new thing and produce outstanding masterpieces. On the other hand, I came to know Iu-Lung after seeing his name and photos in the paper and magazine, receiving good feedback from others. It also gave me a good impression on his black and white photos. Denny whom I just knew, showed a dynamic of passion in photography during the outing.
After we met and gathered at Jalan Tukang Besi, we began our shooting along the street, targeting craft-men whom hardly be seen nowadays. We were looking particularly for an elderly doing rattan at Jalan Kampung Kuli. His workplace was next to the Makam Hang Jebat (Hang Jebat’s grave). It is shame to say that I did know the grave’s existence prior to the outing till I was told and brought there by the three students from other states. And unfortunately we didn’t manage to see the rattan man as he was already off business on the day. Feeling disappointed, we continued on our search of a craft-man.
the elderly craft-man checking on a sewing maching
We then headed to Jalan Kampung Pantai. I remember there is an elderly craft-man who repairs sewing machine at his shop right opposite the fabric shop I went a week ago. And yes, the craft-man was there on business that day and he was fixing a sewing machine when we reached. We were happy to meet our objective – taking photos of a craft-man. With the old craft-man’s consent, we snap some of his photos before we moved to my last stop, Lorong Jambatan.
The street leads directly to the famous bridge which known by the locals as Gui Men Guan in Chinese, meaning hell gate. It’s believed that many had been killed during the world war Japanese invasion or suicide here by jumping into Melaka River. As it is dead end, no car would drive into this street.
panning shot of the family love on a bike
When we arrived there, a family of few members was spending some precious time together and the kids were cycling back and forth along the street. They were friendly and happily greeted us on our arrival. The kids were not camera-shy but to continue cycling. It came to my mind immediately to shoot panning photos of the kids on bikes instead of taking racing cars. So I turned down the my camera’s shutter speed and started to do panning shots of the family’s cycling moments. We enjoyed there capturing the shots of the people, building and the bridge.
It was late then I had to leave for my next appointment. Timothy and friends continued their journey to other streets and I believed they’d got really amazing shots of the old town of Melaka. I really enjoyed the walk around and snap outing. It was also a great pleasure to join these energetic and passionate young men especially having the same interest in keeping the aspects of history before they disappear altogether.
Thanks to Timothy, Iu-Lung and Denny for spending a good time together. May all beings be happy.
Hit the jump to see panning in action:
Yih-Shyang (left) and the sunset of Melaka
I received a surprise phone call weeks ago from an old friend, Yih-Shyang from Ipoh. Being my ex-college mate and also my long lost friend, Yih-Shyang got my contact number from my friend, then called me and wished I could be his guide in Melaka.
Since the day we knew each other in college, he always wanted to visit Melaka and promised to come. Nine years of hearing that, finally he came alone from Kuala Lumpur all the way down to Melaka town to meet me and to spend the rest of the day touring around Melaka. I just got to know he is into photography.
Yih-Shyang was getting an angle of a stair in Limau-limau Cafe
It was Monday, the next day after the 50mm shooting with photonians, I was a little bit too sick to do another shooting in Jonker Street again, rather I became a photographer’s photograper, which I took the photos of Yih-Shyang’s most of the time, and helped him to snap his photos with his Nikon D90.
We spent the whole day around Melaka town and enjoyed the local cuisine such as Chaozhou porridge, Chendol, Nyonya zongzi, Nyonya dinner, and others. It was a feeding frenzy with a guy with big appetite like Yih-Shyang. Too, we went to some famous tourist spots such as Cheng Hoon Teng temple, Clock Tower and The Stadhuys of the Dutch Square Area, Melaka River, and Eye of Malaysia to do our shooting.
That evening before we went for a dinner of delicious Nyonya cuisine, I brought Yih-Shyang to the Eye of Malaysia and did some shooting of Melaka’s amazing sunset. Unfortunately, there was where the battery of my camera went flat before the sun touched the horizon. We however continued to shoot with Yih-Shyang’s camera of the sunset and night views of Melaka. There I learned something of a Nikon’s camera.
After the night shooting, we waved goodbye to each other and Yih-Shyang headed back to Kuala Lumpur. It was a wonderful day to catch up with an old friend, and toured around Melaka which made me feel like a tourist myself in my hometown. Thanks to Yih-Shyang for contacting me and inviting me.
Below are some of the shots I took:
"Hi there. May I take your order please?"
It had been a while since I had an outing with photonian. Two weeks ago on a Sunday, Max invited me to join a street photography outing at the Jonker Street of Melaka. There were 15 of us taking part in this event and each was required to shoot with only 50mm lens which was a challenge to shoot with a fixed range lens.
Angel Wee (left) and Angela Gan - street photography outing
We started at 4pm, a hot afternoon and spent about 3 hours at Jonker Street and the other streets near to it, such as Tukang Besi Street, Heeren Street, Tokong Street and others. It was amazing and interesting to see how fellow friends could use a variety of different angles of a subject and created unique and creative pictures. Everyone could be a teacher for me.
This photography outing was a great fun experience seeing that we had spent a precious time together and could share our photography experience with each other. Some of the shots I took of the photonians:
Hi! I am CJ, blogger of Juesatta and photographer of CJ Photography.
I love and enjoy photography, thus make me a lifestyle wedding photojournalist and portrait photographer based in Melaka, a lovely town full of history and characters in Malaysia.
Wedding is the sweetest thing of one’s life because it celebrates love, therefore I have always been passionate for capturing beautiful, natural and romantic wedding day images of moments for couples to be cherished a lifetime.
Drop me an email cj@cjfen.com and will be great to hear from you!
