Every photographer has a unique way of doing things from planning via developing of images until some form of archiving. Everyone has habits and a general way around the basic principles of photography. Some may have rather simple workflow like casually shooting on vacations and than upload them to a computer, burn it to a CD or share them on Facebook. Others (like myself) may prefer extremely complicated and ritualistic approach to do essentially the same thing.

In this article I would like to share the basics of my photographic pipeline, hoping that some of you will get some good ideas by reading it or even better give me feedback of how to improve it. I have to emphasis that although my workflow is a result of a long evolution it is still way far from complete or being perfect, so feel free to write constructive comments. Also this writing is only a general overview of my methods, and in the case of interest I will extend this post into the entry point of related articles where I will explain each individual steps in more details.

I will try to show my most preferred and complicated workflow which is black and white film photography and I will derive the other pipelines such as color film and digital photography from the flowchart of it.
1. Taking photographs

This is the most obvious step. You have to push the button at some point to take a photograph. In my case this step is often proceeded by a stage of planning and preparation, while other times I just go for a walk and shoot spontaneously.

Of course all of my shoots about cameras and lenses are planned carefully, and for some others I had to get prepared mentally like the street portraits where I had to ask people to allow me to take a photograph.

At this stage there is no real difference between the different materials (film/sensor) although with film cameras I often need to measure light separately which makes the process slightly more complecated.  For now let’s suppose I used black and white film.

2. Film development

As I was shooting film at the first stage I need to get it developed. In case of B&W films I always develop at home in the bathroom. I use the simplest development tank ever manufactured and I usually use commercial developer like Kodak D76 or Forte universal developer. Since film is not cheap and my photographs are very precious for me I don’t risk to ruin them because of some own receipt.

I always follow the descriptions when I mix the chemicals and I always take into account of what is written on the box of the film. It has to be said that I have got some really good books recently, so I am going to make my own chemicals for the sake of economical operation. It supposed to be cheaper if you buy the ingredients and re-create the factory composition of them.

I usually develop 2-4 rolls one night as the chemicals works better when they are fresh and also I can limit the time distribution of the mess in the bathroom. I don’t use stop bath, instead I wash the film before I fix it. In fact a light solution of vinegar and water can be used as stop bath, but so far I could live without it. I have got a life-stock of Agfa fixer from my uncle as he used to work at a company which tested pipe-weldinns with X-ray photography.

The whole process is not a big deal:

1. Mix the chemicals and check temperatures
2. Load the film in complete darkness into the tank (the rest of the process can be done even in daylight)
3. Apply the developer and follow the instructions (moving the film periodically)
4. Remove the developer and apply stop solution (or simply wash the film with water)
5. Remove the stop solution and apply the fixer
6. Remove the fixer and wash the negative
7. Hang the negative and make sure there are no water drops remained on the surface
8. Let it dry

In the case I shoot color negative I give it to the local lab to develop it for me. In fact the C41 process is not much more complicated than the B&W so it can be carried out at home as well, but for now it is enough to work with and store only a restricted sort of chemicals in my home.

3. Scanning

I always scan my negatives by my own, because this is the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to get them visible. This allows me to investigate which photos are good enough for prints and also I really like to process my film photographs digitally. Many things can be corrected in the darkroom during enlarging, but that needs a lot of experience which I lack. So it is often easier and more convenient to me to process images digitally at the first place. I would like to merge the best of the digital and analog word of photography and get the most out of both. Of course, I try to get the most out of my photographs at shooting time, but sometimes post processing is inevitable as often you want to achieve something beyond the original scene.

I have an ancient Canonscan 9900F flat-bed scanner, which works only with legacy operation system (32bit windows XP) therefore I must use a virtual machine on my  computer to be able to scan. The bright side is that this scanner is capable to scan 35mm, medium format, framed dia and 5×4 inch large size films which is really cool as I frequently shoot medium format film as well.

Scanning is also a form of art as many times you have to overwrite the default settings of the software, or make tricky things like scan negative film as slide and reverse it in Photoshop in order to achieve the best results. It is because just like any automatic exposure device the scanner tries to get a balanced average exposure and sometimes your intention was different.

Of course a professional scanner is capable to produce the best results, but that could be pricey too. For me this solution is good enough keeping the balance between expenses and quality, although  this is a very time consuming process. Usually a scanning session of 2-3  rolls burns up a complete afternoon especially if I scan color film.

4. Archiving the film

Right after the scanning process I always put my film slides into appropriate paper made film holder pages. One page can accept 1 roll of film and it is available for both Leica size and medium format film. In case of Leica size 35mm film, I have the roll cut into 6 frames pieces already (because the scanning) and this is the suitable format for the film holder sheets too. I can write notes to each page (EXIF and GPS data in a meaningful way) and I can put the sheets into a holder, so I can turn pages just like it were a big book of negatives.

These holder sheets are available in many variations using different materials such as transparent or matte plastic but I prefer paper as it is the most natural and also the cheapest material. This way all my films are archived physically, tagged and labelled  and if the book is stored properly it can last literally forever.

5. Digital image processing

The next step is to review the photographs on the computer and sort them out in sense that I delete those which are surely mistaken ones. The pipeline splits at this point according to the operation system I use. Most of the time I am a Windows user but also I am passionate fun of open source, so I am trying to develop a nice Linux workflow in parallel.  Unfortunately Linux is handicapped in many ways when it comes to (professional) image processing, but I am sure it will mature up soon. For every day image-processing for web consumption Linux tools are just fine.

This time I overview my Windows habits and I mention some worth to look at Linux software and if there will be a need I may go into the topic deeper in a separate post.

Adobe Lightroom

I keep my photos in a Lightroom catalog and I use this software for most editing tasks too. Lightroom is just brilliant in many ways. It helps you being organized if you use the tools properly so you will be able to find things in your catalog. In addition you can do most of your photo editing at the same place in a non-destructive way. So you can roll back any changes at any time if you were changed your mind.

In fact Lightroom is nothing revolutionary, it is simply a combination of existing tools fine-tuned for support photography. For example you can find tone-curve tool in barely any image editing software, but Lightroom gives you sliders to manipulate it on a higher abstraction level. You can adjust shadow, dark, light and highlights areas using the sliders while you actually playing with the curve tool which is traditionally hard to use otherwise.

All in all, you can do pretty much the same with other software in composition  (F-Spot, Rawstudio and Gimp on Linux) but Lightroom and similar workflow applications are making this process a lot more compact and easier.

Photoshop and Gimp

Even though Lightroom solves most of my problems, sometimes I need to do editing beyond it’s capabilities or worst I have no idea how to do these actions in LR. In such cases I use either Photoshop or Gimp. Most of the time I use these software for inverting images (negative to positive) and for retouching badly damaged parts of old negatives.

When I use Linux I do everything in Gimp what I used to do in Lightroom in terms of editing since Gimp is the most powerful free editing application on Linux. On the other hand most of the times I don’t do much with my photos.

• Cropping
• Rotating
• Tone adjustment
• White-balance adjustments
• B&W conversion
• Sharpening
• Vignetting
• Spot and dust removal

Another great thing in Lightroom is that it allows you to copy your changes and apply them on other images even in a batch. This can be very useful for many who needs to deal loads of images. Since I don’t shoot great quantities, the individual editing is also acceptable.

6. Enlarging

Even though I do it very rarely, I do have the full amateur labor equipment for enlarging black and white negatives both 35mm and medium size format.

I have no big experience and I have no much time nor room to do enlargements, yet for me it is the real magic. When you see the final picture appearing and evolving in the bath, that is truly a touching experience.

Now I am planning to start again to play with enlargements and make nice prints up to A4 size, so you can expect posts about this experience as well.

7. Archiving physical prints(enlargements)

So far I have a couple of envelops where I keep my self-made prints (mostly experimental). As soon as I will make bigger ones I will probably buy some frames and hang them on the wall. Maybe I will get some kind of photo album as well.

8. Archiving digital files

For me the biggest problem is to keep my digital files secure and organized. Honestly this is not really solved and I am struggling to find the best option.

Optical disks

Until now I wrote everything to DVD-s. While these disks are doing their jobs of freeing my hard drive, they are very vulnerable and extremely hard to keep track of their content. Therefore I have many things duplicated and I have a complete mess in my head of which album is located on which disk.

Online storage

I had an idea to store all my images on Flickr a couple of years ago since they give you unlimited storage if you go for the pro account. This way, you can have everything on the same place, you can avoid duplicates better, you can search and share more easily and last but not least the storage is not your problem anymore.

BUT, it is slow to browse, you cannot upload raw files and since you have no control over the storage, you cannot do anything if they mix up something which is very unlikely, but it did happen in the past.

I also have other services in use such as Dropbox and Google Drive to store images, but the capacity of these are not big enough (free account) at the time of writing for me.

External hard drives

I think the best option could be an external hard-drive for me, where I could store even my Lightroom catalog.  I would go for a mirrored solution where each file is duplicated to a secondary disk as well. In case of disk 1 dies disk 2 still keeps your records.

The only trouble is that the price of these solutions are not the best nowadays, but eventually I will probably go to this direction.

9. Online publishing

While this step is not necessarily belongs to the photographic workflow, I would like to mention it, because on one hand many photos are taken for the blog as (in my opinion) it is important to communicate and share my work and on the other hand it is another way to archive.

I use Flickr, and Dropbox as primary  online storage facilities and I link the images from there into my blog. I also use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr to promote.

Final words

If you have comments to this post because you have found a mistake, have different opinion, suggestion or want to read more about this topic or any sub topics, please leave a comment. If you were interested in more details in any steps, I could write a post about them separately like how is the development, enlarging or Lightroom editing look like for me.

Icons

The icons I used came partially from Token Dark icon-set  by EVAN BROOKS, while the rest (enlarger, camera, tank) was created by me.

But first, let me tell ya a little story about my experience in film photography, and then we can get to the fun stuff!

The first photography class I ever took in college was Dark Room I. Led by our fearless professor, Sandy (one of my favorite professors), our class clumsily entered the world of film photography.

For each assignment, we shot several rolls of film. After shooting, we would awkwardly fumble in the dark, trying to keep track of the scissors, canister, can opener, reels and tank needed to develop the film.

When the film was successfully loaded on the reels and transferred into the developing container, the process of developing finally began.

Developing is a process that consists of rhythmically agitating a mixture of chemicals in the tank for 5 seconds every 30 seconds for 10 minutes (or, if you’re me, this means 5 seconds of sporadic dancing to techno music under the red lights every 30 seconds for 10 minutes), and then repeating in a similar fashion for nearly 30 minutes. After your mandatory half hour of inhaling various chemistry and becoming slightly light headed, you finally take your developed film out of the container and reveal the negatives to the light. If they turned out (you won’t know whether your pictures worked or not until this point), then you can begin printing.

Using the enlarger to crop and focus, you expose the paper to light for a set amount of time, depending on how dark or light you want the print to turn out. You can use different filters to vary the contrast of the print, which depending on the filter, can change the amount of time you need to expose the paper for. On an average day I can end up making anywhere from 1 to (on the most frustrating prints) 5 test prints before making the initial enlargement. After you’ve exposed the paper, it goes through a series of chemicals that magically make the image appear on the paper (the best part!), and ta-da! Your photograph is on paper.

This sounds like one big complicated process, right? RIGHT! I cannot tell you how much it frustrated me sometimes. Film is a wildcard, and you don’t always know whether your roll turned out or not until the end of the process. Yet when all is said and done, film photography is an incredibly rewarding process. From the click of the shutter, to the final print, you are with your creation the whole way. By experiencing the whole process myself, I have come to develop (ha, I’m so punny!) a great appreciation for film photography. If done correctly, the prints come out of the process with a deep richness and beautiful tone depth that is hard to beat. Despite it’s time-consuming nature, it is so worth it.

Now now, don’t worry, I’m done rambling. I’ll give you some pictures.

For more bw photos of that day go to my flickr
In conclusion, I really love shooting black and white, so here’s to many more rolls of bw film!

1.I’m not going to lie the first time I loaded medium format film I failed so badly I didn’t hold it tight enough and it all unrolled luckily though it was only dummy film this is my first piece of advice do not load medium format film without practising first it’s a pretty easy thing to do but quite fiddly so get some dummy film and try loading it onto a medium format back before doing the real thing.

Loading the film

2. before loading the film the first thing i do take the back off the camera first and then load it’s easier to do it this way than to try to hold onto film and undo the camera back undoing the camera back depends on the camera so i would check any instruction booklets you have or search the internet for one but most medium format cameras have a lock that you have to push to undo the back also once the back’s open move the spiral to the side with the rolling mechanism it’s usually a wheel on top.

3. when loading the actual film all you have to do is peel off the seal while keeping a tight hold on it do not let it go or else it will open and the film will be exposed. place the film in the empty place so the black paper is facing outwards (the film is usually facing the wrong way when you open it ) the film should be facing the left on most cameras (check if unsure) the paper should be facing this way because the black side has the film on it so if you load the film with the coloured side up (based on Ilford film other film’s can look different) your film will not be exposed when taking pictures.

4 after placing the film in the right space you have to push it gently through the other spiral (I tend to keep hold of the other side of the film while doing this) and move the rolling mechanism until the arrows on the back and the film meet (other films may have different shapes but it’s the same principle we do this so the camera knows where to start off from.

5. then place the film back on the camera (check instructions if unsure) you then have to pull a leaver on the back (cameras like the mamiya rb67) or pull a leaver on the front (mamiya rz does it in one motion) (again check if unsure ) and continue to pull the leaver until a one is clear on the screen of the camera appears if the one is not quite in the screen or it has a red shape in the screen pull the leaver once or twice more after doing this the camera is ready to shoot just remember to focus the image,gauge the exposure with a light meter before shooting, remove the metal sheath (a metal plate used to protect your film when switching back’s) from the side of the camera and wind on after each photo (fully pull the leaver down else the camera will stop shooting) (you may have to wind on the back and front if you have a camera like a mamiya rb67 or if you have a camera like a mamiya rz it does it in one motion.

A great example of capturing the rim of light on a jet.

A great example of capturing the moment, because this was not staged.

2005

The Dark Side

Eccentric

Funny

PORTRAIT OF MIRA

Swamp Sheoaks, Canning River Reserve

During May and June I will be offering some introductory workshops to large format photography.

The aim of this workshop is to introduce you to a large format  4×5 inch field camera, provide some first hand experience with its workings and techniques, with applications to both portrait and landscape work. If you have ever wondered about the advantages of using a large format camera in your work and what’s involved, or are considering large format for your photography, then this is for you.
This workshop will be conducted outdoors along the wooded banks of the Canning River Reserve, so you can see and experience using a 4×5 field camera in a real life situation. Through  various discussions and field demonstrations, including some with Polaroid instant 4×5 film,  Alex will guide you through the process of using and choosing a large format camera.  Discussion will also include choice of film types and applications, film loading, processing, lens choices and printing options including digital output.

The Canning River Reserve will provide ample subject matter and an ideal learning environment for participants to gain experience in using a 4×5 field camera within a group setting. Participants who have their own film or digital camera, regardless of
format, are encouraged to bring it along.

To maximise the experience, workshop numbers are limited to a maximum of 6 people. For more information about dates etc, you can down load a printable pdf or you can get more details and book online.

You will be the envy of other photographers with the strikingly fashionable dark cloth hairstyle.

This photo was taken earlier in the day of two children walking between the apple trees.

JJ will be offering his services to those of you wanting a something unquie and special for many years to come!!! He shoots your portraits in studio on an old Bronica medium format camera and then processes them on site in our dark room!!!!!!

We are accepting appointments now for June. Portaits sittings are for individual portraits or for couples to start. We may be offering family portaits later in the summer for Chirstmas.

If you want something that no one else has, contact us today at mailto:info@stonephotography.ca

My favourite shot. 2 people I love.

All images captured with the Nikon F50.

An old shophouse

The same shophouse

I got my fortune told at a traditional Indian fortune Teller. He had a beautiful bird that picked out fortune cards for his customers. Mine said something that indicated that I’m going to be rich soon.

His friend

All images captured with the Nikon F50.

“Smelly”,”Irritating”,”Scar on our society”,”Noisy”,”Road-hoggers” – Are what these people are sometimes called.

A lot of them are very camera shy, while some have superstitions against taking photos. That’s why I often get rejected by them.

However, after gaining some experience, I’ve begun to understand that I have to gain their trust before asking for a shot. After I began talking to them, I was intrigued with their stories. They have so much to say – but sadly, no one to talk to.

Many of them feel lonely, abandoned. Some of them live like clowns. They put up a strong and cheerful front to get passersby to buy their tissue, sweets and Big Sweep tickets. Talking to them, being friendly and understanding them has made me realise how cruel and unjust this world is.

That’s why I hope that through my photos, I can help other people understand and what these human-beings go through and feel. I’ve become friends with most of them and I’m forever grateful for their friendship, advice, company and time.

The aged. My emotional roller-coaster. My spiritual journey to self-discovery. My friends.

These pictures were taken at Holland Village.

CANDY LADY

She’s in her 90′s and is the dearest to my heart out of all my subjects. I’ve grown close to her through taking photos of her and we’ve become good friends. She has no family and lives alone. She takes the bus to work every day.

She’s been photographed by many people, even the newspapers. Commonly seen at the corner outside Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao, she carries on her 50 year old business of selling Chinese malt candy.

“Business has been bad. No one likes my candy anymore. Only tourists buy them.”

She smiles a lot. And like many other elderly folk, I figure it’s just a mask.

“I came from China… I used to work in the food business. I sell candy now because when I was a little girl, I loved it when my dad bought me this candy.”

She talked about her increasing joint pains caused by age. She can sometimes hardly move by herself. I asked if she’s seen a doctor or taken medicine. All she could say was, “no money, how to afford?”

So I went to the pharmacy and got her some. She was happy and that made me more than happy. I love buying ourselves lunch and eating with her at her stall. She’s become like my other grandmother.

“Jesus loves me. He loves everyone. He helps me take away my troubles.”

I’m very thankful she’s found religion to help her out. She told me that when she’s alone at home, her mind drifts to dark and sad thoughts. It kills me but I keep telling her to tell it all to Jesus for him to take them away (I’m an Atheist). At least then… she has something to genuinely smile about.

All images captured with the Nikon F50.

“Smelly”,”Irritating”,”Scar on our society”,”Noisy”,”Road-hoggers” – Are what these people are sometimes called.

A lot of them are very camera shy, while some have superstitions against taking photos. That’s why I often get rejected by them.

However, after gaining some experience, I’ve begun to understand that I have to gain their trust before asking for a shot. After I began talking to them, I was intrigued with their stories. They have so much to say – but sadly, no one to talk to.

Many of them feel lonely, abandoned. Some of them live like clowns. They put up a strong and cheerful front to get passersby to buy their tissue, sweets and Big Sweep tickets. Talking to them, being friendly and understanding them has made me realise how cruel and unjust this world is.

That’s why I hope that through my photos, I can help other people understand and what these human-beings go through and feel. I’ve become friends with most of them and I’m forever grateful for their friendship, advice, company and time.

The aged. My emotional roller-coaster. My spiritual journey to self-discovery. My friends.

These pictures were taken around the Henderson Market area.

AH HUAT – 88

When I met him in the evening, he hadn’t had lunch, nor breakfast. Not even dinner on the previous day. After I bought him some wanton mee, he gobbled them down in 2 minutes. We chatted for about an hour.

“My family? I haven’t heard of them in years.”

INDIAN MARKET AUNTIE

She was making some traditional flower necklaces when I saw her. She couldn’t speak English but she was very polite and nice.

MALAY MARKET UNCLE

He sells fish – I think. He couldn’t speak English either so I struggled with Malay. He was just packing up in the afternoon.

AH TONG – 78

He just had lunch with his family. He’s a very happy old man who has a loving daughter and granchildren. He told me about his past. He worked in a metal factory and met his wife in Vietnam.

PARROT AUNTIE

I think she’s quite well-known in Henderson because she’s always seen with her pet parrot at the food centre. She looks very very happy when she’s with her parrot. Maybe it’s her way of avoiding loneliness.

All images captured with the Nikon F50.

“Smelly”,”Irritating”,”Scar on our society”,”Noisy”,”Road-hoggers” – Are what these people are sometimes called.

A lot of them are very camera shy, while some have superstitions against taking photos. That’s why I often get rejected by them.

However, after gaining some experience, I’ve begun to understand that I have to gain their trust before asking for a shot. After I began talking to them, I was intrigued with their stories. They have so much to say – but sadly, no one to talk to.

Many of them feel lonely, abandoned. Some of them live like clowns. They put up a strong and cheerful front to get passersby to buy their tissue, sweets and Big Sweep tickets. Talking to them, being friendly and understanding them has made me realise how cruel and unjust this world is.

That’s why I hope that through my photos, I can help other people understand and what these human-beings go through and feel. I’ve become friends with most of them and I’m forever grateful for their friendship, advice, company and time.

The aged. My emotional roller-coaster. My spiritual journey to self-discovery. My friends.

These pictures were taken mainly around my estate.

MY PATERNAL GRANDFATHER

Affectionately known in Cantonese as “Yeh-yeh”, he is the laughing buddha of Singapore. He is always smiling and laughing, spreading his infectious joy.

MY PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER

My “Ma-ma”, she has had surgery on her throat and now has difficulty breathing. Watching her sometimes aches my heart because I see the suffering she goes through every day. She mostly sits at the dining table and watches TV because she also has difficulty walking.

EVERTON UNCLE

He walks around the Spottiswoode Park, Everton Park area every afternoon. He’s a very nice person to talk to. He used to work in a wood factory.

“One day when I was working, I cut off my finger accidentally at a machine.”

MY MATERNAL GRANDFATHER

I love taking pictures of him because of his aggressive facial features. He’s also very sporting. He was the best looking guy in Melaka in his youth.

He’s still very active and works as an accountant at a wine-importing company at Orchard Road!

All images captured with the Nikon F50.

“Smelly”,”Irritating”,”Scar on our society”,”Noisy”,”Road-hoggers” – Are what these people are sometimes called.

A lot of them are very camera shy, while some have superstitions against taking photos. That’s why I often get rejected by them.

However, after gaining some experience, I’ve begun to understand that I have to gain their trust before asking for a shot. After I began talking to them, I was intrigued with their stories. They have so much to say – but sadly, no one to talk to.

Many of them feel lonely, abandoned. Some of them live like clowns. They put up a strong and cheerful front to get passersby to buy their tissue, sweets and Big Sweep tickets. Talking to them, being friendly and understanding them has made me realise how cruel and unjust this world is.

That’s why I hope that through my photos, I can help other people understand and what these human-beings go through and feel. I’ve become friends with most of them and I’m forever grateful for their friendship, advice, company and time.

The aged. My emotional roller-coaster. My spiritual journey to self-discovery. My friends.

These pictures were taken all over Chinatown – From Maxwell Market to People’s Park

TISSUE AUNTIE

She sits outside the coffee shop at Sago Lane all day with a big red plastic bag full of tissue paper. She doesn’t speak much.

UNCLE ON THE WHEELCHAIR

He hangs out every day at the staircase near Kreta Ayer Community Centre with his friends. He did not wish to discuss his leg.

SLEEPING UNCLE

I’ve seen him sleep on the same bench on many occassions but have never had the heart to wake him up for a chat. He’s not the only one who sleeps in the public like this. It’s quite a common sight in Chinatown.

SMOKING UNCLE

He hangs out every day at the stairs near the community centre alone. I was hesitant to approach him at first because he had a very angry face. I buy him tea everytime I visit Chinatown.

He’s one of my favourite subjects because of his face is always full of emotion. He can’t speak, I think there is a problem with his throat because he smokes so much. It’s a waste because I would love to understand him better.

That’s why sometimes the both of us just sit together on the stairs gesturing to each other for very long periods of time. I think he enjoys my company. And that makes me feel good.

He smokes a lot. I think it’s his only way of escaping reality.

GRANDFATHER UNCLE

I don’t know him, I just thought it was a very heartwarming scene. I think many old folks are happiest when they’re with their grandchildren.

HENRY – 93

I found him in a corner near the lift lobby of block 4. He looked really weak so I asked in Cantonese and broken Hokkien if he needed help. To my surprise, he looked at me and said in fluent English, “My name is Henry, and I’m fine, thanks.”

“I’m sick. No, I haven’t seen a doctor. What’s the point? I’m already so old.”

MODEL UNCLE

My lecturer saw this picture and told me he also used him for a photoshoot once. He’s a professional model! Nah I don’t think so. He’s just a very nice man.

CHESS TABLE UNCLE

He loves playing chess. But lately he hasn’t the mood because something very unfortunate has happened to his wife.

I couldn’t hold back my tears when he told me his story. I don’t think I should tell it here. He just smiled at me and said, “Don’t be upset, this is life. Everyone has their turn.”

UNKNOWN UNCLE

I don’t know who he is but he agreed to let me take his photo. He moves very slowly with a walking stick. I did not want to take up much of his time so I did not ask him questions.

CARDBOARD BOX COLLECTING AUNTIE

I’m sure most people have seen these women going around collecting cardboard boxes and other thrash to sell. This auntie does the same around Kreta Ayer-Tanjong Pagar area.

I spotted her while she was struggling to cross the road pushing a big and toppling trolley full of rubbish. She let me into her house at Chinatown. We talked for around 2 hours about what she does. Her children have abandoned her and she told me her son used to beat her up.

She collects a whole pile of stuff to be sold for only 3 to 4 dollars. I saw a cut on her hand and asked her what happened. She said, “A malay boy attacked me while I was on my way home behind *points*. He held a knife and took all my money.” She had about 200 dollars savings before the robbery.

I gave her what little money I had to help her tide over some time and bought her beancurd from Maxwell Market. I wish I could give more or help in more ways. She refused the money, I had to secretly slip it into her pocket. The next time she saw me, she scolded me but I could tell she was thankful.

AH HUA – 97

She’s 97 and she also collects cardboard boxes. She’s alone and her children are in Hong Kong. She collected a LOT of thrash only to get 3 dollars. I spotted her at a corner of People’s Park.

I bought her some lunch, felt it was the least I could do.

All images taken with Nikon F50.