Giving Thanks: 2015 Thanksgiving

As I'm getting closer to releasing my book, I can't help but think about experiences I've had that have shaped the ultimate "product" of the book.

And when I think of my experience--I think about photography.

Photography was itself an experience; moreover, quite literally, it was the lens of my experience. I lugged around these cumbersome, beautiful things: Leica SL2's, and Pentax 67II's, and tons of actual 35mm film, and spools of 120 and 220 film, and nerdy lens cleaning gear, and a manifestly physical camera manual. Maybe all this gear (especially nonsensical to anyone who grew up snapping away from a cameraphone) slowed me down. But photography was itself a reason to get up earlier. Photography was a reason to stay up later. It was a reason to be patient. And also a reason to be aggressive because the "decisive moment" (a term Cartier-Bresson used) was nothing to be gentle with.

I remember a Vietnam Vet in L.A. absolutely furious at me after I offered him $1 to take his photo. Most of the time I would just snap away. This time I changed my tactic and it got my called a slew of colorful racial epithets. He was belligerent and chased after me in his wheelchair. I made it out unscathed. But unfortunately the photo didn't turn out so good.

Sure, there were awkward moments like that. But photography was such a wonderful reason to pay attention. Yes, the idea is to document things (especially because I was more about "reportage" i.e "first draft of history" stuff and not fine art inclined), but more importantly, it is to notice things--that is what really matters.

Photography helped me because it made me notice. Without photography I mightn't have picked up on things. I am eager to share my book--because I have something to say. Without photography I mightn't have picked up on the things that mattered, all the types of things that have a tendency to serendipitously come together to have meaning and give me cause to have something to say.

Over the coming weeks, I will be releasing some never before seen photos from my archives. And on that note, I give thanks this Thanksgiving to my parents, who facilitated my love of photography beginning at the age of 14. I give thanks to my two photography teachers: (the late) Mr. Laugel and Mr. O'Malley.

Thank you! Stay tuned for many more updates!

Haitian Bloodbath: Instructive for Being Mixed Today?

"In the extreme case of Haiti, mixed people were hard up against black emancipation, ready to work with the colonial government to extend the fruits of the French Revolution to their “mezzanine” class. On the other hand, some of them were shoulder-to-shoulder with blacks, on the frontlines of the first-ever successful slave rebellion. Of the latter, there were characters like Candi, the “bloodthirsty mulatto,” who loved nothing more than to “pull out the eyes of the Whites with a corkscrew."

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Why THIS donut?

But after being puzzled as to why this donut, amidst the battery of donut varieties offered, including ones like Red Bean, did so well I had to ask one of the bosses of the Hong Kong master franchise, a big Aussie bloke. "Why?" I asked...

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Musings on Watch Collecting: The Grail Watch

When watch collectors talk about a "grail," usually they mean a mythical timepiece, horology unattainable by virtue of some combination of price and rarity.

But I reckon a grail can also mean the one watch- the only watch. The sine qua non of one's collection- i.e. without this singular watch one's collection would possess such a hole in it to be empty. 

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"Plutocrats Against Democracy" (Krugman): My thoughts

Paul Krugman's Plutocrats Against Democracy column yesterday is a great read. I don't agree with Krugman all that often, but this piece is clear, well-reasoned, backed up with solid data even if he can't help himself from taking some partisan swipes while he's at it. Also, he uses Hong Kong as an example for a macro-generalization about what is happening in the world, so if you're glued to the #umhk definitely check it out.

What get's me thinking is Krugman's spectre of polarity. He frames it as Plutocrat vs. Democrat, and everyone has her or his preferred words- I call it Local vs. Cosmopolitan.

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Umbrella Movement told thru Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil, the self-described “dramatic mix of circus acts and street entertainment” is spectacular. In addition to the spectacle of the performance, Cirque du Soleil is remarkable from a business standpoint too. They have basically turned the circus business, which was ailing for decades, on its head. And, in redesigning the circus experience they created a lucrative new segment[i]. For the purposes of this blog entry, the features of Cirque du Soleil's business model also provide an interesting lens to view issues underlying the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.

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6pm Oct 3rd: Causeway Bay by Forever 21

Here are some photos from Oct. 3rd, in Causeway Bay at the scene of  scuffles between pro and anti occupiers.

4-5pm Causeway Bay: A City Divided

These stills are from earlier this afternoon, right outside of the gleaming Hysan Place Mall. At this point in the afternoon, Occupy Causeway Bay was hanging by a thread- some thirty protesters remained at the frontline, and for a while, stood resolute but unbarricaded. The plastic ties holding together their steel barriers were cut by the Police, and later roving bands of "anti-Occupy" counter-protesters dismantled everything. I saw one guy (depicted in one of the picture's in the gallery) strike someone who happened to be holding a mobile phone. The guy struck so hard the phone flew into the sky. I almost laughed when I saw it because it looked comical- the phone got projected so high it was like the clown act where the clown pulls out kinds of nonsense out of his pocket and lobs it into the air for effect. But this wasn't funny.

There have been all kinds of reports today of pervasive intimidation- in addition to isolated incidents of sexual assault and physical violence. The students have shown some remarkable resolve- especially when they have been in standoffs with adults, sometimes in greater numbers- and sometimes against, let's face it, absolute thugs and goons.

All in all- it has been a very sad day for Hong Kong. I never imagined my hometown could be so divided.