Vivian Maier

July 21, 2017 by Ming Hung in Urban Exploration, Art

I dabble in street photography. I am a recent dabbler so I do not know very many of the masters of the genre. However, the relatively recent discovery of Chicago-area nanny Vivian Maier's work sort of opened the door to street photography for me. Maier was a prolific shooter, and often had the kids she took care of in tow. Her work is brilliant.

Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra created this beautiful, colorful tribute to Maier. Her work was mostly shot on black and white film so I also made a monochrome version.

Click images to view on black.

Two Days in Manhattan

March 20, 2017 by Ming Hung in Urban Exploration, Travel

I love visiting New York City. I would not live there, but I enjoy my visits every time. These are a series of images from my latest trip there last October. It was raining one of the days I was there, and to say that I do not like being out in the rain is an understatement. However, I wanted a few shots of the city in the rain, and my Fuji X system made it possible for me.

I am not being paid by Fuji, I swear. I wish that I was. The Fujifilm X-Pro2 is one of the few cameras that I have owned that makes me want to go out and take photographs--even in the rain. Having a weather sealed camera body and lens made things much easier. I just had to deal with rain on my glasses. The classic Nikon F2 and the Canon 5D Mark II were the other two cameras that I have owned that I really loved photographing with. I no longer shoot film, and my Canon system was terribly heavy. Fuji has been perfect for walking around and travelling. And the colors are beautiful.

The street performers in Times Square are a cast of characters, and the Naked Cowboy is one of the most well known. He is technically not naked, and I wonder if he was ever really a cowboy.

Food carts are a big thing on the streets of Manhattan. I want to get something every time I pass one. Seeing them is a big test in self control. I did not buy anything when I took this shot.

This image embodies much of the allure of Manhattan for me. The smokestack, the construction, the traffic, the shadow area beneath tall buildings. I have never driven in Manhattan and I never will. I would not be able to deal with this, but it makes for great images.

Click images to view on black.

Foggy Day Urbex

February 04, 2017 by Ming Hung in Urban Exploration

I was out exploring and shooting a couple weeks ago when Chicago was blanketed in fog. The streets of downtown were great. I was attracted to the bluish-gray hue. I enhanced the blue in the following two images in post to emphasize the mood I felt while shooting. A friend remarked that the space in between the buildings in the middle of the frame looks itself like an upside down skyscraper. It does!

The yellow of the street lighting was a nice contrast to the blue. I am not a patient photographer. I should have waited for a train to arrive at my station for additional foreground interest. I have another shot like this I took last year where there I did wait for a train, so I guess I simply felt it wasn't needed.

Then I switched to monochrome for a more gritty urban mood in the following two images. I love how the fog in the air made the lights glow. The first image was shot in my neighborhood. There is a viaduct on every block for quite a long stretch. I love them. Some of them still have exposed cobblestone. A railway runs along the top on the left side of the frame.

The lighted dots in the upper half of the frame are lights from a distant highrise. They look a bit like stars.

Click images to view on black.