A Good Photographer

On August 22, 2024 By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, PhotographyLeave a comment

It was only yesterday (August 21, 2024) that my friend Nikhil shared a post from Quora in which the answer in response to a query about whether a certain artiste was a good singer was “A good singer is one that people enjoy listening to and want to hear more of. That is the only definition that actually matters”. Simple, and accurate. The same applies to every artform.

So, when identifying “good photographers” we apply the same reasoning, it will be those whose photographs are appreciated by others and more photographs from the photographer are usually anticipated or sought out.

Guyana has many good photographers, their appeal varying depending on the appeal of their style etc. When it comes to Street Photography, I would say that the field is quite smaller, but still with diverse enough styles on offer.

Today (August 22nd, 2024) is Street Photography Day in honour of the man considered to be the father of Street Photography as we know it, Henri Cartier-Bresson. I’ll share two of my more recent Street Photography images, one taken almost three weeks ago at Mon Repos Market, and the other, taken yesterday with the idea of posting it today for Street Photography Day. In both the aspect to be looking at are the actions, postures, or the impression you get, from the people in the frame.

Mon Repos – 24-1303 | Mon Repos Market, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, Guyana.

While Henri Cartier-Bresson is considered the father of modern Street Photography, many others have contributed to the development of the genre over the decades, including but certainly not limited to Dorothea Lange, Lee Freidlander, Vivian Maier, Gordon Parks, Jamel Shabazz, Brandon Stanton, Saul Leiter and Bruce Gilden.

From the late 1800s/early 1900s to today, the approach to Street Photography has changed, influenced not only by artistic endeavours, but also by the changing times, changing attitudes, and of course, the camera itself. The bulkiness of the early cameras would have put many limitations on the approach to Street photography, while the development of portable cameras in the early 1900s, photographers were more mobile, with the ability to take the equipment out in the streets without the need to lug large equipment around and setup for the shot.

As cameras got smaller, more affordable and more easily accessible, and with the development of coloured film, the approach to Street Photography changed with the times.. Today, we not only have the left-over DSLR Cameras, but also newer mirrorless cameras, standard compact cameras, and the modern mobile phone with built-in cameras that can often rival many compact cameras.

Most of my Street Photography is done using a camera that is smaller than a standard Business Card, and about an inch thick. It allows me to stay somewhat unobtrusive, and be more likely to catch the candid moments I’m on the lookout for. Although being unobtrusive for me is hard, since I look oriental (that being a very small portion of Guyana’s population), and I inevitably wear some sort of Hat, for which I am relatively well known.

Traversing the Transept – 24-1321 | Church and Carmichael Streets, Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana.

If you’re a Street Photographer, or even have some inclination in that direction, are are a fan of the genre, have a Happy Street Photography Day, and enjoy taking those Street Photos.

I think I shall go home after work and browse through that Vivian Maier book that I’ve neglected for a little while.

There were (and sometimes even “are”) times in my photographic journey when I’ve wondered whether I was a Good Photographer, at this point, my friend Nikhil would thump me upside the head just for thinking it, since there are people who like my photography, and many have remarked about my absence from the local scene recently. I acknowledge, based on the opening premise of this post, that I am a Good Photographer. Cheers to all you Good Photographers out there!

Balance

On August 21, 2024 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

In a post-pandemic world, just surviving feels like a balancing act that is doomed to failure, with cost of many goods more than double what they were in 2019, but salaries and income maybe a percentage point or two more than back then. But, that has little to do with photography, unless you do photography for a living, which, thankfully, I don’t.

Supermarkets are nice to shop in, if you can afford the added cost that usually accompanies many of the goods there, especially fresh produce, so many still visit the various public Market places, and if you’ve followed my Street Photography, you probably know I frequent Mon Repos market, and it usually makes for some good Street Photography. Fresh produce abounds along with many other stalls, and the variety in people and activity makes for a good walk with a camera almost any Saturday.

Market – 24-1170 | Mon Repos Market, East Coast Demerara

There are times when I come upon a scene, and while I can draw my own conclusions about what’s going on, its much more fun to elicit the views of others from the same image. While much of my Street Photography tends to be in black and white, some scenes demand to be left in colour, and I think this was one of them, this next photo was taken on a walk down Quamina Street (formerly Murray Street) in the Cummingsburg ward of Georgetown.

Quamina – 24-1177 | Quamina Street, Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana

On the corner of Quamina Street and Waterloo Street, there’s an old house, right downstairs at that house is “Battery Man”, who purchases old, used batteries for their “lead” content. I got quite a suspicious look out of him when I walked by casing the place for a good photo. After taking the photo, I smiled and said “Good Day” and went on my merry way.

Battery Man – 24-1178 | Waterloo Street, Cummingsburg, Georgetown, Guyana.

I think its just this type of variety of subjects that draws me to Street Photography when I’m not indulging in Landscape / Seascape photography. There’s life in the images, as well as stories that seem obvious, but also stories that others can infer for us.

As usual, click on the images to see them in the Gallery along with other images in the collection.

Bootleg

On February 6, 2023February 6, 2023 By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, PhotographyLeave a comment

Guyana, as well as the wider Caribbean, has long had problems with pirated or bootlegged music, software, and movies; I know its a worldwide problem, but I can only speak to a localized perspective.

I like to think that its lessened in recent years, with the advent of streaming and subscription services, etc., although I suspect I’m wrong. Dave Martins, leader of the famed Tradewinds band, wrote a song called Copycats, and although it dealt more with the West Indian habit of adopting foreign habits, accents and mannerisms, it nevertheless pointed out our habit of copying. Dave himself is very disillusioned since copies of Tradewinds music can be found all over, and this, of course, means little income to him in terms of sales and royalties.

In Guyana, the idea of robust Intellectual Property (IP) legislation has been floated, toyed with, promised, and neglected by several administrations, and this not only lends to the piracy but somewhat emboldens it. Without IP legislation it is extremely difficult to enforce copyright, and the government knows this, and the artists feel it, every day.

Despite a good and productive music sector, a dynamic visual arts sector, and a growing performance arts sector, IP Legislation seems but a spectre on the horizon, as seen at midnight, in a mist shrouded rainforest. As photographers we see a regular “appropriation” of our images in the local media, some photographers are lucky enough to get back from those agencies who did so, but others do not. I’ve been asked many times, and have often allowed the use of an image for no monetary recompense, but with attribution, I’ve sometimes gotten a small fee, its that kind of world.

As time has gone by, many agencies seek out the photographers, and ask permission, and offer to license the image, a positive sign in a dismal marketplace. One instance that still rankles with me is when one of my images was used for a local publication, and when the publisher was approached, I was told that it was not my image, and that I had nothing to get; I was eventually urged by a lawyer to not pursue it, as it was unlikely to net me anything in the long run.

The Bootleg Scene – 23-0001 | Shot with DXO ONE Camera

In the meantime, we can still stop and get the newest or oldest, favourite songs and movies from an assortment of vendors; and in my favour, this particular one made for a decent street photo.

Keep Shooting folks! Click the image to see it in the Gallery along with other Street Photography Images.

Checkout

On January 7, 2022 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Sometimes even images I select in a seemingly random way often tend to have a theme of sorts running through them. I was processing these and uploading, when I noticed a theme of sorts, or maybe I was just stretching it 🙂

I took these in 2020, for us that would have been considered first wave COVID-19 I suppose.

Vendor – 20-0836 – Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown, Guyana.
Shot with DXO ONE

Purple Power Defence – 20-0838, Water Street, Georgetown.
Shot with DXO ONE

Brazo’s – 20-0840 – Water Street, Georgetown
Shot with DXO ONE

Checkout – 20-0832 – Wonderful Shopping Mall, Good Hope, ECD.
Shot with DXO ONE

Time to checkout, click on the images to see them in the Gallery along with other Street Photography

Market Day

On April 5, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

Sundays are well known Market Days for various markets within and outside of Georgetown. Within the city limits two notable markets that abound with activity on a Sunday morning would be Bourda Market and the La Penitence Market.

With Friday’s announcement of COVID-19 Emergency Measures, I heard that the Markets would be closed on a Sunday morning (5th April 2020). My friend Shola mentioned that she passed Bourda and that she ” never thought there would be the sound of silence at Bourda” – as tempting as it was to pounce upon the cricket reference, I knew what she meant.

At La Penitence, traffic along Saffon Street and along Sussex Street are usually very slow moving on a Sunday mornings, this morning there was little traffic to speak of, and Bourda is ever a hive of activity, any day of any week of any year.. except now.

I was parked just before the old Yong’s Bakery building and across from the Kaieteur News building. This gent on the bicycle was approaching from the other side of the road, and he casually angled across the lanes and came towards me, there was no traffic to interfere with his maneuvers.

The La Penitence market off to the centre-right of the image above is almost never seen in such a quiet state. On a Sunday morning I’d be lucky to see the market itself from this vantage point, actually, on a Sunday morning I’d never be able to stand in that vantage point, it being in the middle of the road.

Bourda Market consists of the main Market Building that is surrounded by Orange Walk, Regent, Robb and Bourda Streets, to the north of the main structure, over Robb Street is the extended market area with stalls filling that block up to North Road. This was further extended onto Merriman’s Mall that lies between North Road and Church Street, the main section between Orange Walk and Alexander Street having enclosed stall structures, the additional section with open stall structures lies between Orange Walk and Cummings Street (pictured above).

Above you can see the market area along North Road (approaching Orange Walk) this junction is usually quite busy, noted for the Coconut Vendors on the corner there.

Above you can see a view of the Market area along North Road, I had originally hoped to catch a scene with some clear skies, but the accompanying clouds added to the mood.

A view of one of the north-south entraceways, looking into the market area between two stalls tat face onto North Road.

Not a street I make a habit of traversing, but I have gone through here on a couple of photo walks, and even at it’s more quiet times it is usually bubbling with life and activity

There are essentially two street in Georgetown that are usually described as the busiest, Sheriff Street and Regent Street. Regent Street outside of Bourda has probably not been this quiet since Good Friday 2019, and even that I’m not sure of.

Robb Street between Alexander Street and Orange Walk is usually known for being a section of street that you don’t ever try to rive through, unless you have the patience of Job. Here it is today, you could roller-skate (blade) own it and probably try a few stunts while you’re at it.

COVID-19 and the precautions we need to take will change things, are changing things, and will change us, but it will also help point out the things we take for granted.

Be Safe, practice social distancing as much as practical, please don’t spread fear with all those inaccurate social media posts, try to think for yourself.

Please click on the images to see them in the Gallery

Around the Block

On March 25, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Yesterday I decided to literally take a walk around the block, just to see how the COVID-19 and its repercussions might be affecting the neighbourhood (my work neighbourhood, that is). So as not to waste the opportunity, I walked with my DXO camera as well.

As street photography goes, nothing great, but a few decent ones 🙂

You probably can’t see it, but in that vendor’s section is some Nenwah Husk, used my many a Guyanese as a body scrub.

Being the lone Chinese walking around I kinda attract unnecessary attention, this lady kept a close eye as I walked by; good thing I didn’t sneeze or cough.

This rastafarian on crutches carefully made his way along the pavement, but was very observant of all the stalls he passed, might have been looking for Nenwa. 🙂

In her hand is a bag of sliced green Mango, I can only assume that maybe it also had “loud pepper and salt”

Almost as if COVID-19 were not on our shores, these gentlemen were busy “gyaffing” and the topic as I passed was all politics, aka GECOM-20

Less people than normal during midday, but still enough, and as you can see, not much social distancing occurring.

Click on the images to see them in the Gallery along with other images “In the Streets”

Five for the weekend

On February 29, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

The powers that be decided to declare Elections Day in Guyana a national holiday, so we have a long weekend.

I decided to share five photos from my last month’s walking about, whether you see anything in them that appeals, or shows diversity, I can say that these show people, the quintessential “man in the street”, or if we’re going to be politically correct, “person in the street”, the people who will be affected by the outcome of Monday’s vote, and any events that may occur because of the elections, the parties and the electorate’s response. These are the people for whom “life goes on”, regardless of what happens.

Babies Day Out - 20-0528 — Babies Day Out – 20-0528

20-0551 | Coconut Vendor on Main Street, Georgetown, Guyana

20-0557 | Robb Street, Georgetown, Guyana

20-0558 | Robb Street and Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown, Guyana

Hope you like one or two of those. Click on them to see them in the Collection along with many more images from my album “In The Streets”

Expressions

On February 20, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Shooting in the streets can be a hit and miss form of photography, especially when you’re doing it “on the move” like I do. I know many Street Photographers sit and wait for things to happen, and these result in some extraordinary images. I tend to take photos on the street while I’m walking, either to a particular destination or just walking like a rabid dog in the midday sun (the words of the song go “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun…”, and since I’m not an Englishman, I must fall into the Mad Dog category)

On this particular day, as I walked beneath the midday sun, I took maybe about 19 photos during the space of a half hour, I think a normal day I’d get a lot less. Of these 19, I had set aside 4 keepers and a possible two others for later consideration. Of the four, one I posted directly to Facebook, another I gave over for use in a poetry blog, and of the remaining two, I had one that I thought was quite the catch in terms of Street Photography.

I was very happy with the overall capture, but more so of the expressions on the faces of the people within the frame, I hope you enjoy it, click on the image to see it in the gallery along with other images “In the Streets”

Back in the Streets

On February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

I’ve been out of circulation for a while, many things have happened and life has moved on. I’m trying to get back to some sort of “normal”, and one way was to start back my midday walking, so I went out for a short walk (much shorter than usual) to dip my toes in the water 🙂

Over the years, I’ve gotten used to walking with come device to capture images while I walk, whether its a full DSLR camera, a mobile phone or the DXO One that I have for such walks. There are times I walk and never take a photo, and there are times that I take many but never use any, then there are the other times that I take some and get a few keepers.

The thing about Street Photography, and something many still don’t understand, is that its not about photographs in the streets, its about people. It’s about people and the environment, whether they are identifiable or not is unimportant, its their way of dress, or their way of walking, their antics or the way they “pose” as in lean on a post or sit on a chair, its about their behaviour in a crowd, or among others, or by themselves – its about life, the life that they show, the life that is implied, the life that we see as a photographer,and the life that you see as a viewer.

For my part in taking street photography, I try to be outside of the events, not interacting with the subjects,but inevitably there will be some interaction, being of mixed ancestry with an outwardly predominant asian visage, I tend to get noticed on the streets 🙂 Using a discrete device to capture images does help minimise the likelihood of the subjects being aware that they are being photographed, and thereby preserving the scene. There are many times when I’ve watched Nikhil interact with people, then take their photos, and the results are usually quite amazing, but that’s just not me, so what works for him and others, don’t work for me, and vice versa.

I don’t consider myself a good street photographer, I do have an understanding of the genre, but I definitely place my images way below those of many other local “street togs”, but sometimes I have a few that I think are worth sharing 🙂

Hope you like them, click on them to see them in the Gallery along with other images “In the Streets”.

St George’s Cathedral

On October 26, 2018October 26, 2018 By themichaellamcollectionIn thoughts4 Comments

This impressive edifice has likely been branded upon the memories of ninety per cent of all Guyanese (if not all), it stands centrally in the commercial district of Georgetown, encircled by roads and dwarfing most of its neighbours in size and in stature. It is probably one of the most photographed buildings in Georgetown alongside other buildings along what is called the Heritage Trail, which stretches from Parliament Building (which incidentally is where Anglicanism first began making an impact here, in the late 1700s the ground floor of a building on that site was used to hold services) all the way up Avenue of the Republic into Main Street and High Street, ending at the Umana Yana.

The current St George’s Cathedral is the second church to sit on that spot, the first not lasting very long due to structural faults and subsequent cracking, although there were plans for a replacement stone structure, a wooden building was settled upon using mainly local timber.

What makes a cathedral? Although most people tend to associate the term with grand structures in the Latin cross style, complete with naves and transepts, a cathedral is simply the church within a diocese that houses the seat of the Bishop, in this case the Anglican Bishop of Guyana. Guyana has two notable cathedrals, the second being Brickdam Cathedral or as it is officially known, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (a Roman Catholic church).

The current building was opened in 1892, and is among the tallest wooden structures in the world, as well as often being called the tallest wooden church in the world. Over the decades there have always had to be major renovative and restorative works to the building. While it is an Anglican Cathedral, it is also a source of pride to all Guyanese, and as such we should all try to help in keeping it beautiful and maintaining it.

I remember during my high-school years, there was a massive drive to raise fund for its restoration, a specific memory centre around some pens that they sold, the pens were shaped like a large nail, I remember using that pen in school, and while my own faith is Roman Catholic and the school I attended was a former Catholic school, heading up my page with that pen meant something, especially when I wrote the letters “A.M.D.G” at the top of the page as I still did at the time; it was a remnant of the old school habits, St. Stanislaus College having been run by the Jesuit priests required the students to head the page with that, it stands for “Ad maiorem Dei gloriam” – For the greater glory of God.

St. George’s Cathedral is again currently in the middle of massive restoration project, this post contains some photos I took of it a few weeks ago. The northern face has been completed and is impressive in its finish, currently the western face / south western corner is being tackled. I understand that there is currently a short-fall of funds, and they are asking for any assistance to continue and complete the entire building, to restore its beauty, and preserve part of our national heritage.