First Love (on Netflix)

The cinematography of ”First Love” on Netflix is really beautiful.

The light, filter, composition, focus, and detail … Everything feels just in the right temperature and pace.

The scenes feel so warm and close. As a big fan of photography and an amateur photographer myself, I admire the way how the drama was shot, and you may say it feels like very “Japanese”. I guess many of us may not be able to well define what being “Japanese” really means.

We often focus on the director and actor/actress of a show. The cinematographer plays an equally important role in a show. A picture is worth a thousand words. To this day you can still see and feel the power of a good picture (or a good movie).

Shot on Leica MP: Tiergarten, Berlin

New York City has the worldwide famous Central Park (335 hectares). London is the home for the classic Hyde Park (125 hectares). In comparison, Berlin’s Tiergarten (210 hectares) may be less high profile but the huge park does serve as the heart of Berlin.

I guess it is very proper to bring a Made-in-Germany Leica film camera (in my case, it’s Leica MP) to Berlin and take some shots of the Tiergarten. I chose #ilfordhp5plus400, which I also thought may be proper for photography in Europe.

It is all about light, especially when it comes to the black-and-white photography. A morning walk in the park can certainly refresh my mind, which helped me to catch some nice peaceful moments on my camera too.

Every city, big or small, deserves to have its own park, a park for Mother Nature, for our life, and for memory. Tiergarten is the one for Berlin.

View more photos shot on my Leica here.

Paris, first roll on my Contax T3

I tried to acquire a Contax T3 film camera in good condition last year and it did take me some efforts. I don’t just want to be an owner of T3 because T3 already has many celebrity owners like Kendall Jenner and Jisoo of Blackpink but it is such a beautiful camera. So is the quality of photography shot on T3.

I acquired my T3 in almost mint condition from a local private film camera specialist. It was not cheap but T3 in good condition (i.e. coming in full box set and original leather case, not to mention it’s the “double teeth” model if you know what it means) is just rare in the market. I jumped on the deal and brought it home, few days ahead of my trip to Europe.

Contax was a Japanese brand but its famous Carl Zeiss 35mm F2.8 lens was made in Germany. T3 is known as the most advanced compact film camera to this day and it does live up to its fame as you can tell from the shots (#nofilter) I did with Fujicolor Superia X-Tra 400 film. The color, light, and balance were all right. If I don’t tell you this is T3, you may guess it could be on a Leica?

Of course there are still many limits when you shoot with T3, compared with Leica M models. But T3 offers you a lot of freedom and gets you back to the basics — remember the No.1 golden rule of photography? Don’t over-think. Focus on the moment and catch it.

I’m very glad to have T3 as my new travel companion. I guess Kendall Jenner and Jisoo of Blackpink may also agree with me.

View more photos shot on my T3 here.

The Cathay in Singapore

The Cathay Cineplex in Handy Road, one of Singapore’s oldest cinemas, already ceased its operations from late June this year. It will be taken over by a new independent movie project.

When I read the news in the Strait Times about this during my recent trip to Singapore, I felt I’d better go and snap a few photographs of the last scenes of Cathay. And I did so on my Leica MP with a roll of Kodak set at ISO 400. It took me some time to develop the film when I got back to Hong Kong. So, this is indeed a late post.

I actually don’t know if the Cathay in Singapore is somehow related to the same namesake Cathay (國泰) cinema in Shanghai, one of the first modern cinemas launched in China, and it has been still in business to this day. Even the architecture of the two Cathays in Singapore and Shanghai does look a bit similar from outside.

When I visit Singapore next time, the same place should already have its new owner. History can be both powerful and weak; it depends on how the people keep it and remember it.

Joo Chiat, Singapore

During my recent visit to Singapore, my colleague Aidan brought me around his neighbourhood, Joo Chiat (如切), a very historic Peranakan cultural area and nowadays also a popular Instagram-friendly spot.

I snapped some quick shots on my Leica MP, a classic film camera (btw, MP means Mechanical Perfection in Leica’s dictionary) and I only got time to process the film after I returned to Hong Kong. I love to record historic things on film. Sounds like a destiny, right? I wish Joo Chiat all the best, to keep the good balance between fashion and tradition and remain a unique spot in the Lion City.

This is my photography. This is my point of view about the world.