Medina

It's been a while since I last posted in this blog. My apology.

I continue taking and making pictures, of course. After all, that's about one of the things that keeps me ticking. Some of those pictures are good, some bad, some taken seriously, some only lightly at the gut's urge of the moment. Some I proudly share with you here and here. But there are countless others that I keep for myself, sitting in the dark corners of my harddisks.

Today I decided to share some photographs that I have - for the past three months or so - kept for myself. I took them in Medina on our Umrah pilgrimage.

Instead of taking the usual pictures of the beautiful Islamic architectures or documenting what were doing or the places we visited, I decided to observe and make pictures of the ordinary, the stuff that many call the street photography.

Here is the first installment from the city of Medina, the first city we visited on our umrah after Jeddah, the port of entry.

Rainography

Rainography is obviously a play of words. There is no such a word in the English language. And no dictionaries have had an entry of it yet. I made it up.

Combining the words rain and photography, the new word carries with it the meanings of the constituent words. Its meaning may therefore be construed as photography of the rain. In the study of linguistics, the blending (or combining) of words or morphemes like this is called portmanteau, a word which - etymologically - is derived from the French words "porter" (to carry) and "manteau" (mantle).

Speaking of verbal and morphological blending, let's also remember that a photograph may in itself be considered as a blending of various signs. Hence, it is a text. And like any other texts, it is a locus where a host of other previously existing texts interact with one another in the process of producing this new text (intertextuality). As a text, a photograph can also be read and interpretted.

Photographic Metonymy

All photographs are metonymy [of the things they represent] and should be seen and treated as such.

The Streets

In its candidness, street photography is an uninhibited impression of the every day life as it is unfolding in public places. Yes, I said "uninhibited" - the very word that I think accutely describes the approach that the photographer takes, the setting, and the subject's unaltered state of being.

No Title - NT

Sometimes it's best to leave a photograph without a title and let the audience be free to interpret it as they wish just as sometimes we - photographers - do not have the explicit reason why we take that photograph other than because we like it and strongly feel about it.

Lure of the Mannequins

Mannequins are lifeless figures, we all know. But they are almost always perfect: from head to toe, they are shaped to match the images of perfection. They are like magnets in our own minds about what we want to be - pulling us to the border of the underworld where consciouness is put to the back seat and primordial emotions are taking control: spend, spend, spend ...

Echoes

Echoe is a familiar word to many of us. You know, it's like what happens when you shout to a solid wall and hear your own voice being repeated.

I was told that the word came from the Greek mythology. Echoe was the name of a talkative oread (mountain nymph) who loved her own voice very much. She was punished by Hera - Seuz' wife - for preventing her from catching her husband's love affairs with the other nymphs by taking away her voice. From then on Echo could only foolishly repeat another's shouted words.

What does it have to to with these photos?

For one, it's their titles: Echo 1 and Echo 2.

The rest is not my right to say. Let them speak for themselves.

A Daily Dose of Excitement

What do they say about photographers?

They can't live a day without taking pictures. They need it like they need the air they breathe.

To me, it's more like a daily dose of excitement that keeps me ticking. It gives me the relief from boredom that I sometimes feel.

Peanut World: Photo Hunting Reconsidered

If you are not a full time photographer, chances are that there are times when you just feel that you don't have the time to really go out and hunt for and make photographs. But think again. Photographs are everywhere for you to pick up at will. All you need to do is change your paradigm about a photograph and the way you think about it.

All things can be photographed. Good or bad is the next question. But good or bad are also categorical. There are general criteria for good photographs (although many would not care to think about the bad ones). And even then, these filters don't apply across the board. What's good in one may not be that good in another. Three things, I think, play a very significant role: genre, taste, and cultural setting.

I'll safe the lengthy discussion of those somewhat more complicated arguments for later time. For now, let's get back to the basic premise: anything can be photographed. And that anything is anywhere as long as there is light, for photography is impossible without light. And as I said earlier, all you need to do is change your attitude. Once that happens, you can start exploring - using whatever you have and know about photograph-making.

Snapshooting may be the first step. Let it go. Release your creative energy. Kick out all inhibitions about going happy and shooting at will. Photography is cheap now that the digital technology has made it possible to take and discard photographs without much financial consequences. Once you get heated up and the creative energy is overflowing, start paying attention to details, elements, light, and what's possible under the circumstances. That - in my experience - is when satisfying photographs (I'm not talking about good here) begin to come your way.

All those "procedures" can take place anywhere and anytime. The "Peanut World" above was made at the peak of boredome at the workplace. It was a short round of snapshooting before I began to focus and "saw" and "picked" satisfying photographs.

©Eki Akhwan 2009
PS. I did nothing to edit the photograph, except turning it into black and white and resizing it. The 16:9 ratio format is camera-original.

101 - Path of Interests

Election # 02

Polling station witnesses at the recent presidential election.

Election # 01

Photo Exploration # 35: Space Within Space # 2

I believe that the more elevated goal of photography is and should be to discover, reveal, and see what the ordinary eyes and mind-eye miss.

In photography, recording and reproducing images are not enough simply because such things can easily fall within the realm of what I call "the mechanical optic" or the mechanical vision".

Discovering, revealing, and seeing what the ordinary eyes and mind-eye miss require more than just glancing or moving your vision superficially across fields and subjects; more than that, you need to penetrate into the very soul that moves your awareness and sense of geometric interplay that provides meanings and dynamic representations of experiential realities.

Such a penetration cannot be achieved mechanically - either by the gears you control or by rigid and schematic attitudes and approaches towards the fields and subjects. Rather, it should and can only be achieved by opening yourself widely to any possibilities and embracing them like you would when you hear a moving set of musical tunes that move you to spontaneously dance without questioning what, why, and how such things could transpire.

Ultimate enjoyment of revealing, discovering, and seeing the unseen comes from within with the externalities functioning only as a trigger that invites you to move in and be involved and emerged in the promising visual experiences that are presenting themselves at the right time and space.

Eki Qushay Akhwan
09 June, 2009

Photo Exploration # 34: Space Within Space

Space, they say, does not have the boundaries; it's three-dimensional, and the very thing that makes it possible for objects and events to exist. Can that thing we see in the mirror be considered space?

If space is boundless, then it must be. But is the space within the mirror three-dimensional? Is it possible for objects and events to exist - to take place - within it?

Then, there is of course the question of the photograph itself. Is it space? If we stick to the physicist's definition of linear space, it can't be. It has boundaries, the frames. And it's only two-dimensional. However, the photographic "space" does make objects and events exist or can be created to exist.

Let's also consider space's fourth dimension that forms a continuum with time and hence is called spacetime. Now you have the very thing - contentious as it might be - that defines our perception of the universe.

Welcome to space within space.

Shadow #005: C.C.

JAGAT FOTOGRAFI is participating in Shadow Shot Sunday.

Faces in The Crowd: Laughter

Faces in the crowd, they say, is a fascinating subject for the study of human nature. Photography makes it all possible.

This is JAGAT FOTOGRAFI's participation in this week's Photo Scavenger Hunters.

Photo Essay: The Barongsai Story

Hello, children! My name's Barongsai. I'm a lion. My ancesstors are from China. They were born about 2,300 years ago. They are pretty old, are they?



Yes, I look fierce. But look at my eyes ... You see ... I'm friendly.



That's why children like you adore me ..., do you?



By the way, I like eating envelopes that contain money, you see. They are called "Lay See" or "Huang Pao". Yummy! Feed me that ..., and I'll dance for you.

Monochrome Shadow: Reaching The Unreachable

JAGAT FOTOGRAFI is participating in Shadow Shot Sunday and Monochrome Monday. Please check out the links to see other participants' photos.

Monochrome Shadow (Shadow #005)

Participating in:
Shadow Shot Sunday &
Monochrome Monday

Please follow the link to check other participants' photos.

Shadow #004

This is just a snapshot from around my office on a sunny late afternoon and a Shadow Shot Sunday for everybody to enjoy.