SERIOUS PLAY 2

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"Serious play 1 " was made in May 2008, almost 2 years ago.

Pictures of the "serious play" series were taken for the use in student handbook ...

Should be very serious ...

But she was not ...

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It's amazing to see that she has grown a LOT.

created by papa ziggy

VIOLIN LESSON

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J..........u..........m..........p
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Dancing in the toilet ...

NASTY GIRL

taken in Nov 2009

LITTLE NASTY WORDS

1

Last month. Before parents day.

Papa ziggy asked iza if there's anything that she would like to tell her teacher...

" You just tell her that you (papa) are hyperactive and you've got attention deficit disorder."

上月。家長日前。
爸爸問臻有沒有甚麽想我們跟老師說。
「你告訴她，你有過度活躍和專注カ不足啦。」

2

" Have you mixed up anything? " mama asked.

「你有冇搞錯到呢？」

" NOTHING MIXED UP, have I," iza blinked her eyes.

「我有『冇搞錯』。」

3

Last Saturday, when buying a jumping rope ...

" Very smart! " she giggled.

「好醒 (繩 )！」

"Smart" sounds exactly the same as "rope" in Cantonese.

"Very smart" = "Good rope"

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Though she played some wrong notes, she did play beautifully for her very first time on the stage.

She fell into deep sleep after all.

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Preparing for tomorrow's violin contest, her ever first time.

She's not anxious at all but just annoyed by practices. She created all fun ways to play the piece of music so as to kill the boredom of repetition. We love her crazy ways but definitely not the judges (I bet). Can't wait to see how iza will handle this and master her own emotions during performance.

Captured through iphone

VISUAL WONDER

A few months ago. I noticed. A change.

Through the lens, there's a change.

I love to shoot iza, since her first day, wish to capture a non-interrupted her. Therefore, I rarely ask her to stay still and face the camera, or to pose for me. I just take whatever in front of me. She just behaves as she is, with or without the camera. She's so used to this. But, I know I consciously walk her to some destinations where are nice backgrounds for pictures. And, I love pure grounds.

Before this set. Change already occurred.

This set. Caught me.

About 2 months ago.

That night. Iza's granny curled her hair. Only slight curls. To see the curls clearly, I convinced her to go to a brighter environment, a fluorescent lit white mosaicked staircase, so I could do the record. A mere record. To me, in this setting, I could only have slim imagination. It could hardly evoke my emotions but not hers. She, so well absorbed into the environment, set herself into mood and performed (not posed) in front of the lens.

These. So alluring.

She's not art directed by me, but herself.

Constantly, I find. In different outfits, she does envision with different "presentations".

An autonomous interpretation of this cape.

Change occurs gradually. But still very HER.

Response to Fei An's question on the secret to shoot, I do not have any technical advices. But some personal preferences.

Equipment

I'm not using professional camera, which actually will yield a much better result, instead I use a fully automated handy one - Ricoh GX200. We do have a Canon EOS. But I'm not fast enough in using it. To capture children, especially very young ones, I shoot like firing a gun, swift and determinative. Drive by instinct. Think too much, the child will dash away. And, a large camera will be too much for my back pack stuffed with books, files, note book ... I use the EOS only when papa helps to carry it :)

Use any anything that is fast enough to capture children. Let instinct be your lead.

To capture

I love snap shots, instead of freezing smiles in front of camera. I adore people concentrating at doing their own things, instead of staring at the lens. I fancy people in motion. I'm obsessed with blur images. I enjoy capturing instant moments. I love spontaneity.

No need to freeze your child. No need to ask him/ her to look into the camera. No need to stay still.

Compositions

I aware the danger of becoming ambitious in capturing all in a single shot, a perfect record of the whole environment and the figure(s). Sometimes focus will be diverted. In fact, I indulge in looking into parts than whole. I love to look into the void instead of the figure, no matter the figure is a person, an object or a landscape. Just like reading a Chinese painting, I'm allured by the volume of void.

Look into the void for composing.

Light

Different areas on the Earth do have their particular light quality, thus, in taking pictures, we (from different geographical locations) do attain quite a different color rendering and contrast. I do have difficulty in managing the high contrast under the harsh sunlight in Hong Kong. I blind by it. I can only see black and white in the Summer noon. I avoid taking pictures at noon as I avoid flash lights. I love morning light which is more blue. I love overcast, colors are more solid under the diffuse light. I love the steep angle of light during sunset and its rich color rendering. Even in the mist, I love the flatness. Shadow is ever the most interesting component in photography and painting. I love colors of shadows. They are not just black. In the evening, we will have a purple blue shadow. Light and shadow creates emotional response. It's visual storytelling.

Read shades and colors of shadows. Appreciate the absence of light.

I love so much the photography of Petits Bonheurs. It has documented many magical moments through the eyes of a mother on her children. The images are cinematographic, which evoked my imagination outside the frames. I'm unwilling to accept that this beautiful journal is coming to a stop. I would miss her prescription on capturing children in photography.