photogale

Dad's herbs

2012-01-28T19:58:00.000+08:00

My parents live in an apartment in Kaohsiung City. This, however, does not hinder my dad from planting some herbs, both for fun and for food, on the top floor. Among his herbs are the followings:

Thyme 麝香草（百里香）

Rosemary 迷迭香

Basil 九層塔

"Add some salt and this into scrambled eggs. Yummy and perfectly Taiwanese!" - Dad

Lemon Mint 檸檬薄荷

"Put a few of this in hot water and wait for a few minutes and it becomes mint tea. The pesticide-free kind." - Mom

Lemongrass 香茅

In the name of progress

2012-01-18T17:17:00.001+08:00

In the name of progress, everything seems to be justified.

My hometown, Kaohsiung, has been demolishing a lot of old buildings in the name of progress. Naturally, it doesn't ring a bell unless something you are so familiar with abruptly disappears.

I took this photo four months ago, in the summer of 2011. The same building was no more when I visited again two days ago.

Indeed, without these old buildings, everything looks afresh, but I feel...

Lost.

She's getting married

2011-12-20T20:33:00.000+08:00

My ex-girlfriend is getting married. I learned about it through Facebook.

No, we have not friended each other on Facebook. I tried to friend her, but she has never friended me back.

I have a girlfriend now and am happy.

But, I don't know why, it just really feels weird to learn that she's getting married.

Maybe I was wrong

2011-12-03T09:36:00.001+08:00

I've always thought that falling in love will make me more productive in both writing and photography. Maybe I was wrong.

Yet, maybe I wasn't.

If stepping into a relationship means anything

2011-11-05T09:38:00.002+08:00

If stepping into a relationship means anything, it gives me the physical and verbal means to show my appreciation and affection for you that are otherwise not possible with a friendship.

Xin'an Tang

2011-11-01T09:42:00.000+08:00

A direction pointer in the midst of endless farmland that points to my grandparents' little Chinese medicine shop named Xin'an Tang.

Procrastination

2011-09-22T09:57:00.001+08:00

Life should be spent on the little things that make you happy.
... yah, I'm procrastinating...

The labyrinth

2011-08-28T10:06:00.000+08:00

The labyrinth perhaps speaks the truest of the human mind:
branched out from the core so many paths that we hardly know the way back.

Photo: The Labyrinth at St. John's University, Taipei, Taiwan

Solitude?

2011-08-06T17:55:00.000+08:00

I enjoy solitude.
Sometimes, however, I am lost in the grey area of solitude and loneliness.

A cloud monster

2011-07-24T10:02:00.001+08:00

A cloud monster in the sky.
Do you see it?

Delicate

2011-07-03T10:27:00.002+08:00

Why do you sing Hallelujah if it means nothing to ya?
Why do you sing with me at all?

Why do you feel my sorrow with the words you borrow?
From the only place that you know?

- "Delicate" by Damien Rice

In plain English, I believe it means:
Why do you rejoice with me if you don't know me?
Why do you ever try to comfort me if you don't know me?

These are the most true words.
These words also reflect the deepest, most desperate call:
Who really understands me?

I hate myself

2011-06-30T21:43:00.002+08:00

人盡可夫，來者不拒。
Enough said.

A night wanderer in Taipei

2011-06-26T10:42:00.005+08:00

An abandoned building right beside the department store SOGO Fuxing Branch.
It has had spray on it that says "Soon to be demolished for new building" for at least three years.

A Mini against the abandoned building

Security of SOGO Fuxing Branch having his dinner at 1:00AM. Or is it breakfast?

The symmetry of the building of SOGO Fuxing Branch

"Need labour? Call 29839595."

Mirror. Someone must really hate it.

Even garbage pile and cleaning utensils have their glorious days.

One really red gate

Light is the best friend of darkness

A corn on a bike. Who knows, maybe it's some sort of art on display.

A really good scene to start a story

taken with my new pal Nikon P7000

Knowing & understanding

2011-06-25T15:27:00.006+08:00

There is a difference between knowing and understanding.
Knowing something doesn't channel the spirit to create. It can only leave a piece of blank paper, for you have no idea whatsoever what to put on it.
Understanding, on the other hand, allows you to fill that piece of paper with anything you want, for the thoughts in you are just so stirred up that you can't help but to put the thoughts into something.

A piece of me

2011-06-22T23:08:00.002+08:00

Being a single designer, I'm literally experiencing every day that everybody wants a piece of me and nobody wants the whole of me.

A primitive persistence

2011-06-08T21:19:00.000+08:00

The most primitive kind of persistence is actually everywhere around us.

A trip back to home

2011-03-14T22:45:00.001+08:00

今天

2010-10-01T00:04:00.001+08:00

一直期望能與某個特別的人度過今天
所以才一直特別忘了今天

What makes love love?

2010-09-23T22:40:00.001+08:00

I'm not quite sure what makes love love.
I'm sure though that blushing in front of you when I make you happy is the first step.

Before memory

2010-08-25T15:29:00.003+08:00

Before memory comes the courage to begin the story.

Who exactly

2010-08-11T19:04:00.000+08:00

"Just exactly who was I shooting at?" I ask myself.

...

I think it was the cat.

My better half

2010-07-09T08:08:00.000+08:00

Existence determined

2010-06-21T09:58:00.000+08:00

What's unbelievable yet sadly true is that people don't seem to exist at all if they weren't recorded anywhere on our own photos.
That's why people just can't stop taking photos, I guess.

The commencement

2010-06-15T22:58:00.002+08:00

One of the photos recorded on my first B/W film.
It was after the graduation party of my college class,
and four of my classmates walked forward without looking back.

The nightly day

2010-06-14T10:09:00.002+08:00

Memories

2010-06-13T10:32:00.003+08:00

Ain't no ladder endless

2010-06-09T07:34:00.000+08:00

There is no endless ladder;
there is, however, the ladder that you wouldn't start climbing.

What the fu... ... umm... comfy...

2010-06-08T08:25:00.002+08:00

What the fuck!

Umm... comfy...

More, please?

The overlord

2010-06-07T01:28:00.002+08:00

"I now pronounce you a subject of Doggnation."

When nothing tells it better

2010-06-05T15:40:00.002+08:00

When nothing tells it better,
let's all shut up and let a simple expression of emotion tell the story.

One simple definition

2010-05-31T01:32:00.000+08:00

Loneliness is one simple thing:
it's that overwhelming feeling that you have
when you want to think of someone
but have no idea who to think of.

15 minutes of forever

2010-05-29T10:49:00.001+08:00

The face-off

2010-04-26T13:28:00.002+08:00

That's a yellow toy hedgehog the Shiba is facing off.

Rotten

2010-04-25T01:39:00.000+08:00

I find that sharing the most desired thing of mine with someone is difficult for me,
as if it would become something unobtainable after I did.

The truth is, in many cases, the opposite.

By sharing, I get to articulate what I desire, and through articulation, I normally can find the things that I'd never thought of being involved. From there, a plan can be drafted and course set right for a better chance to achieve the desired, the goal, the dream, instead of letting it being made, used, and wasted.

All efforts exerted

2010-04-19T00:24:00.001+08:00

All efforts exerted only to find all in vain
And yet more efforts you continue pouring in
Love is.

The demolition of the House of Liberty

2010-04-16T19:52:00.001+08:00

The House of Liberty (自由之家) is an unoccupied hotel in the Kaohsiung neighborhood where I live. It has been unoccupied for some twenty years and therefore has become more of a ruin; however, it was a ruin that people in the neighborhood have got used to; it was a ruin that had accompanied people in the neighborhood in their ups and downs; it was a ruin that had become part of the people. Everybody in the neighborhood expects its demolition some day, but nobody really expected its demolition on the day.

Hamburger wall

2010-04-07T11:12:00.003+08:00

Teasing a fairy tale

2010-03-07T16:40:00.000+08:00

Taiwanese people have our own way of teasing a fairy tale.

The story

2010-02-15T11:04:00.000+08:00

I'm in no position to state this - after all, I am so lazy to even try to understand all the technical terms that come with professional photography, digital or analogue; but I still think a story-telling photograph is far more engaging and lasting than a beautiful photograph.

Being mature

2010-02-11T10:00:00.000+08:00

Being mature is to find the balance in between the dreamy world and the real world.

The rehearsal

2010-02-09T10:45:00.001+08:00

The groom and the bride,
practicing the giving with the bride's father.

I don't talk much, Michelle, but...

2010-01-27T08:33:00.002+08:00

The blessing

2010-01-25T23:22:00.005+08:00

A prayer with laying hands, a Christian tradition inherited from Judaism;
a symbol of passage of both heritage and blessings.

Congratz, Michelle :)

Whoever your choice be

2010-01-16T00:52:00.001+08:00

"What if I chose someone else?"
"Whoever your choice be, I just want you to enjoy being courted; being wanted and even desired by a man, not just sexually, but wholeheartedly."

I can't take my eyes off you

2010-01-14T20:24:00.002+08:00

An interpretation of
I can't take my eyes off you.

Congratz, sis :)

The devouring chain

2009-12-31T00:09:00.000+08:00

Helplessness is devouring me: that very headache is the very evidence;
and I find myself, for the first time, able to devour an entire pack of cigarette in one night.

Just trying to make myself useful

2009-12-12T10:48:00.003+08:00

"Just trying to make myself useful,"
I find, is my sugar-coating technique to hide away the deep down, basic primitive needs to be appreciated, applauded, adored.
After some time, it will have become a habit of mine; something that I do without much thinking.
After some more time, I will have realized that this really gets me nowhere.

Administration Kind of Work

2009-11-04T05:01:00.002+08:00

No, it ain't easy...

Abstraction

2009-10-17T08:32:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was yet another day of two-hour sleep.
Keep doing this and one day for sure I'll myself become an abstraction.

Untitled

2009-10-13T03:35:00.001+08:00

凌晨三點半，獨自一頭熊坐在辦公室裡，依稀還記得剛剛做了什麼事：八點到十二點，回研討會的信；十二點到剛剛，重製海報；下一個四小時，架設報名用的網站；再下一個四小時...
耳邊傳來史茵茵福音專輯的「有人在為你祈禱」。想想，也是... 不然在這堆積成山的行政事務中，我怎麼還有機會碰得到自己最喜歡做的設計呢？
眼睛酸，也痛；完全不曉得自己的身體是在發警訊，還是在幹嘛。
現在
只剩那一絲的幻想
還牽引著我繼續走下一步
只是
幻想終歸幻想
夢
是會有醒來的一天
哈
但我現在連覺都還睡不了
罷也
繼續吧

Tonight

2009-10-08T02:06:00.001+08:00

Tonight, this quiet corner of the city where I call home is far from me;
Tonight, I think I'll have to sleep in the office.

Listen to My Heart

2009-10-05T23:50:00.000+08:00

當我悲傷難挨，訴不盡最深的悲哀。
親愛主，喔我的主，懇求祢傾聽我的心。

當我希望滿懷，道不出最美的期待，
親愛主，喔我的主，求祢傾聽我的心。

求祢傾聽我每一個心跳，那是我虔誠最渴慕的祈禱。
求祢傾聽我每一個心跳，告訴我祢什麼都明瞭。

---
讚美之泉的一首歌，很喜歡。

Let Me Picture You a Story

2009-10-04T16:14:00.002+08:00

The Artist and Herself

2009-10-03T12:43:00.004+08:00

Ms. Yu-chih Cheng is my French instructor (well, was) and an artist. She's having her solo exhibition at the Tu-cheng Arts and Culture Centre from Oct 4 to Nov 11, and I had this wonderful opportunity to help her with the setting of her paintings before the actual show. I took some photos while I wasn't helping her hang the paintings, and below are two of them that show, well, her and herself.

Info of her exhibition can be viewed from http://yuchih.cheng.free.fr/Site_CHENG_Yu-Chih/Welcome.html. Pay a visit when you have time :)

At The End of the Day

2009-09-22T23:50:00.003+08:00

"Hey!" I walked up and greeted as she shut and locked the door.
"Oh! Hello, John." She was Alison, sister to someone I knew back in college.
"Long day, eh?" Long, it definitely was, for my watch read 10:32 P.M., and she had just locked her office door.
"Tell me about it!" A tiresome smile she gave me, putting away that big set of keys into one of the bags she was carrying, then asked, "Yours also, huh?"
"Oh yah! Except shorter than yesterday, hah." The same kind of smile I found myself giving to her, with she carrying that smile still. Then, I asked, "To the bus station?"
"Yup."
"Honour to walk you there?"
She hesitated a bit.
"Sure!"
"After you."
And so we walked.

At the end of the day, it is still the one we call dear whom we long for a hug and a kiss; who really is the harbour at which we anchor.
At the end of the day, however, it may be these random encounters that lighten the way back to the harbour.

From the One

2009-09-14T19:38:00.000+08:00

Of so much caring,
really,
you only care about the one,
even just one,
from the one you care about.

Forgetting You I Still Am

2009-09-01T20:01:00.004+08:00

Feeling, Habit was called, when she was still in her inception.
Then she grew, feeding on the gloominess that you gave.
Then she matured, tall and mysteriously beautiful
as you dressed her with your glamorous melancholy.
Then she was in love, madly she was, and gave herself complete
to the great mesmerizer called Arts.
Then she demanded, the moment you lost her hand, that you took her
down the end of the aisle carpeted red and forced a ring-bearer.
Then she was pronounced, the little Feeling was, Habit of yours,
and expectations are, for better or for worse, escape key you cannot press.

She then is mine, and I hers, Habit nicknamed thinking about you.
And one day I will find, at that brief moment of her omnipresence not,
with a silent sigh, a whisper says to me: forgetting you I still am.

---
Inspiration:

This Thing Called Loneliness

2009-08-25T13:23:00.004+08:00

Being lonely isn't quite really being,
for your soul and body find nowhere to be,
no meaning of existence;
and no,
you find no way anywhere to anywhere.

Photos in thousands in HDD pile;
nothing stands out except the outstandings.
Browsing through them you find weird voice
whispering, mumbling, shouting, screaming,
crying
in your head.
"Bang," then, is the voice you make, and
you scheme to kill it,
loneliness the friend you once called,
to make friend with the personality opposite.

With efforts you destroy those linking past,
hoping that drains energy of the friend
and a dead body make it.
The night before the dawn of life anew you find
failure, for a zombie it is you made.

Shotguns you then pull; level 10 fireball you cast;
magic pets you summon, and out of the mess you create,
it stands.
Slowly yet firmly it moves close.

Ammo you have none; mana you are in drought;
and even magic pets have bled to death.
So, you run,
into an endless traveling in the Web,
only to find
endless traveling in the endless Web
traps firmer the endless traveler and
makes nearer the ending time.
And thus loneliness is wasted,
though you often him a friend called.

Before the apple tree you had a bite,
with a grin you conquer with a pride;
And then you find conquered not you it,
for grab nothing you beside:
You ate the fruit all alone.

Feeling Lonely?

2009-08-18T22:51:00.002+08:00

What do you do when you feel lonely?
I haven't really figured that out, either.

Blades That Propel The City

2009-07-31T10:20:00.002+08:00

To Kaohsiung, the city that is nicknamed "The Habour City," ship propellers are of absolute importance.

So important that one can even say it is these blades that propel this city forward.

Propellers they definitely are, and propelling this city forward they definitely are, in the past, the present...

And in the future, like wings, they will soar the city into dreams unreachable and unimaginable before.

There is currently an exhibition at the Kaohsiung Museum of History titled "Carrying Forward" (船承高雄). It is an exhibition of the industries and objects related to ocean and ultimately water in Kaohsiung, a city nicknamed "The Habour City." In the exhibition, there are these gigantic anchors and propeller placed at the front yard of the museum, and they are quite a scene to look at and an experience to just be around. The show runs until October 18, so do pay a visit if you are in town.

Drowsing Bear

2009-07-22T21:14:00.001+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Fujifilm Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400

Same protagonist from "Gloomy Sunny."

Being Written About

2009-07-14T23:46:00.000+08:00

Funny that with all the technologies available to show off oneself,
It is still a sweet taste to be written about (in a good way, of course), to be mentioned in other's writings.
It sort of elevates one's spirit and allows one to see through the clouds of personal writings and walls of personal photos some sort of diminishing light that, maybe, just maybe, showing off oneself isn't quite all you need.

Next?

2009-07-13T21:29:00.001+08:00

When's the next photo gonna come?
That I don't know.

I know, though, that there's a lot on my mind,
And, so inevitably as fate, it's again about a girl.

Looking back at "Passion," "Bittersweet," and "So Stirred," it's plain and simple to see the number of girls I have written about in the past two years. It makes me wonder: do I really have a split personality, one being a rich dreamer, the other a poor executor.

Really,
How many times in a lifetime can one be so crazy about another?
How many times must one sigh of falling for another?
How many times can one write words beautiful and dearest to his heart?
How many another can one be so crazy about in a lifetime?

I pray for the next one.

The Ocean Palace

2009-06-23T22:17:00.000+08:00

Our Sleep Time

2009-05-22T11:29:00.000+08:00

Our Battle

2009-05-21T22:27:00.000+08:00

Loner In Fireworks

2009-05-19T16:51:00.000+08:00

My Family

2009-05-17T21:11:00.001+08:00

They were taken the night before I finished my first vacation and went back to Kinmen.

Heritage

2009-05-12T19:34:00.001+08:00

Passion

2009-05-12T09:58:00.000+08:00

How many times in a lifetime can one be so crazy about another?
So crazy that you would pour out the last bit of the best of you to just earn her smile;
So crazy that thousands of miles traveled yet a mile is what you feel; that you don't care a bit of what others call you - be it fool, dumb, or anything - the only one you can think of is her.
So crazy that whenever she talks, flowers bloom; whenever she sings, wind breezes; whenever she walks, it is Aphrodite dancing!
So crazy that whenever you see into her eyes, you see no reflection of you, but the perfect she.

How many times in a lifetime can one be so crazy about another?
How many another can one be so crazy about in a lifetime?

Against The Light

2009-05-09T12:12:00.002+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Ilford PAN 100

Portrait D

2009-02-08T01:37:00.001+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Ilford PAN 100

Portrait C

2009-02-06T22:37:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Ilford PAN 100

Portrait B

2009-02-05T22:48:00.004+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Ilford PAN 100

Portrait A

2009-01-30T01:28:00.009+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Ilford PAN 100

I'm having a hard time producing both new photographs and writings,
so I guess it's a proper time to look at some portraits and tell stories about them.

Caged

2008-09-04T00:56:00.001+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Ilford PAN 100

Heat

2008-08-30T00:29:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Ilford PAN 100

Many a night, in this deepest hour of the night,
I woke up to the heat that went to bed with the soldiers who packed this military compound.
I sat up, got rid of the blanket that only generated more undesirable heat, and got reminded of a heat of quite a different kind.
It was the kind of heat that I felt through my finger tips when my fingers soothly slided through the curve of your waist and hips; through my legs when they moved slowly up and down against yours; through my palm when it went gently from your hips to your back and to your neck and back to your back and, through my chest, when I then held you tight and pressed my chest against yours; through my lips when ours passionately kissed each other and seemed to never want to part.
Warmth, perhaps this kind of heat can be better called, and with my eyes shut, being reminded of the wonderful warmth of your body, the heat that surrounded me became of no importance. I lied down again, finding you were in my arm. With a smile on my face, I slept.

The Enchantment of Leaving

2008-07-28T20:53:00.003+08:00

Leaving a place possesses a sort of enchantment
That can really make an ordinary intersection...

full of wonders;

and make you view from an ordinary angle...

to quite a different one.

First two: Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400
Latter two: Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

Leaving

2008-07-24T08:33:00.001+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

July 24, 2008,
Eight-thirty in the morning,
I boarded the high speed train
And was ready to leave Taipei,
The city where I have spent the past three years.

Just not too far back in time,
At around seven of the same morning,
I stepped out of this room that,
Despite all its characteristics as being a deserted room;
That it provides only thick, humid air in the summer days,
Only cold and colder air in the winter days,
Had sheltered me for the past two years.
I stepped out of the room, with all my luggages with me.
I switched off the light, and darkness dawned.
The room became as it was when I took the very first step into it.
I remained silent and motionless at the door,
Looking into this darkness,
And before I felt something humid growing out of my eyes,
I stepped out,
Shut the door,
Put on my shoes,
And walked out.

Communication

2008-07-03T01:04:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Ilford PAN 100

Gestures and, really, the shared passion for that universal rhythms of all things, in this case, speak much louder than words.

Your Day

2008-06-19T16:38:00.009+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm 1:3.5-4.8 on Ilford PAN 100

今天，妳
讓他鼻頭微紅
讓她淚眼汪汪
讓他眉頭深鎖
讓她緊咬雙唇
讓他猛抽香煙
讓她失神沉思
讓他強忍眼淚
讓她雙手微顫

台北的天空
在那燒得通紅的時候
滴答滴答下起了雨
不再是那狂風暴雨
而是綿綿，渲染著夕陽的小雨

今天
屬於妳的

什麼英文
什麼電腦
什麼學位
什麼工作
什麼數據
妳雙唇微微一張
「啊」的一聲
似惋惜
又似不捨
但一切
只煙硝雲逝
一切一切的重要
在此刻
只是一陣陣的煙霧
送妳
回天

阿雪
順風

Seen Never Before And Never Will Be

2008-06-11T07:59:00.002+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

Seen never before and never will be
Is perhaps the most beauty of photography.

The Forgotten

2008-06-06T23:32:00.004+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

They are perhaps better called as the ignored.
Yet, these two girls are the forgotten,
For their existence is defined solely by the exchange of excuse me and thank you,
Of which we perhaps usually forget to offer the latter;
And of which we have perhaps forgotten the true meaning.
In this room crowded with ladies and gentlemen
Who are dressed in their finest possible;
Who are trained to offer their best to help the society;
Who are, inevitably, focusing only on the task and perhaps people in front of their eyes,
The two forgotten in the room perhaps serve as the perfect start point
For all the ladies and gentlemen in the room
To really know who in the world they are talking about.

What Do You See?

2008-06-02T19:15:00.002+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

What do you see?
Flaw or flow?

A Dream

2008-05-26T02:44:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

Day 4, I had the first sleepless night because of you.
It is really weird in that we didn't really know each other very well,
Yet the fact that your seat will from now forever be empty strikes me hard,
So hard that I am not sure whether I dare laying my eyes on your chair again.

It is really a weird feeling that I can function normally and go about my daily routines knowing you are gone,
Yet when all that surrounds quiets, I can't but to think about you.
To do something about this weirdness, I try to find songs that would say my feeling;
Photos that would express that emptiness in me,
Yet with no success.

I don't really know you, yet a part of me is reaped away; nowhere to be found.
I will not ask where you are, for I know you are with God.
I know because I have received the last gift from you,
A dream as sweet as your character;
A dream that gave me the most peaceful sleep in weeks.

Never will I see you in this building again,
So let me freeze this building for you.

Harmonious

2008-04-25T13:30:00.003+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Ilford PAN 100

It is of an old concept,
But it is still interesting to see that,
With the most inharmonious scenes,
Taiwanese people can always find peace;
Can always be harmonious with the most inharmonious.

Being Empty

2008-04-23T05:25:00.004+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Kodak DXN 400

Don't we all,
Very, very occasionally,
Stare at nowhere far away and
Sometimes mumble, sometimes softly sing, sometimes are simply quiet,
As if the world spins no longer;
As if the world is really full of possibilities.

Dear Weber-Johnsons

2008-04-20T00:48:00.003+08:00

Dear Jered and Erin,

Please pardon me for showing your feet publicly, for I know no other way to get to you. Please know that I have read Erin's note written as a comment to the entry "A Colourless Day" and have emailed you right after. Please know that, as I went through the hundreds of photos to find this particular one of your feet, I got reminded of Jered's laugh and Erin's smile and that I also miss you two a lot. Though the only thing remains constant in this world is change, I do know that the change after The Story of An Hour remains constant and that you are imprinted in my mind. Let me, however, stop being sentimental now. Please, after you have received this message, email me of the whereabouts God has led your feet to from this aisle of Advent Church. I can be reached at galearii [at] gmail [dot] com.

Warmly,
John

Humble Beginning

2008-04-16T23:23:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Fujifilm Neopan SS

In a humble corner of a humble house of a humble city in a humble country
Is a beginning very humble
Yet a magnificence so capable.

The Loudspeaker

2008-03-23T13:00:00.007+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Kodak DXN 400

Growing up in the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, I have seen loudspeakers such as this one installed on the two Presbyterian churches that I had participated in. The sole purpose of these loudspeakers is to broadcast the sound of an in-church service so that people who cannot be in the church during the service, for any reason, are able to hear clearly what is going on in the church.

Of course, with the sound so loud, neighbours of these two churches have complained. The churches, after receiving complaints, would cease broadcasting through these loudspeakers. Well, at least for a short period of time, and then the usual function of which resumed. It is quite funny to see this tug of war between the churches and their respective neighbours, both making their voices known to the other (of course, if I were the neighbours, I would be gnashing...).

Loudspeakers such as those installed on church buildings can also be seen elsewhere. In the small streets, lanes, and alleys of a typical Taiwanese city, it is common to see these people riding on these motor-bikes that have been modified to carry things and, of course, are attached with loudspeakers. These people are normally middle-ages, some even elders, and they would broadcast through the loudspeakers their intentions of slowly riding through these streets, lanes, and alleys. Their intentions include, "sell us your discarded electronics," "would you like your screen windows renewed," and "bring us your recycles." In other words, they are trying to make a living, and the loudspeakers are the only means they can make everyone in these tall, fortified apartment buildings known the services they offer, the voices they have.

Recently, Taiwanese villages, towns, and cities see another implementation of loudspeakers. In the political confrontations hundreds gathered; in the presidential rallies where thousands shouted; in the arena for a better Taiwan where millions participated, loudspeakers were everywhere to be seen. Loudspeakers, again, were used to make voices heard, and, really, everyone who was holding a loudspeaker made sure of that.

Thus we came to this day, March 23, 2008; the day after the presidential election; the day many rejoiced, many mourned. Yet, on this Sunday morning, I again heard voice coming from the loudspeakers installed on the top of my hometown church; an unfamiliar tone that sang a familiar theme: God bless Taiwan. The voice was firm and passionate, and every congress member, despite the political divide, united in one tone that said their hope and love for this land and their unflinching courage to protect this land.

At the end of the day, perhaps what really resonates in all these loudspeakers of churches, motor-cyclists, and presidential supporters is quite the same: come what may, for we are not afraid.

A Colourless Day

2008-03-22T15:57:00.008+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on AgfaPhoto APX Pro 100 (B/W)

March 22, 2008,
The day for Taiwan's 2008 Presidential Election.
The day's eve saw pan-greens shouting, pan-blues yelling;
Presidential hopefuls waving hand, presidential supporters returning flags.
Economic issues dominate the theme of both camps in this election,
Yet we can still see the omnipresent Colour issue taking its usual role.
Perhaps conflicts are of necessity in the course of change,
And passion and demands in the name of democracy,
I do, however, somehow find peace
In those good, old, colourless days.
But no.
Not those days in which there was only one Colour, one dominating Colour,
For, despite all the absurdity we see,
This division of Colour is actually hard won, literally with blood and sweat.
So no.
Not those days in which there was no division of Colour;
But those days in which there was no division of peoples on one land;
Those days in which people really treated their fellow countryman as,
Really,
His fellow countryman.

A Lot Of 7's

2008-02-28T13:53:00.002+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

A lot of 7's,
Or something else?

The Dream To Fly

2008-02-26T20:05:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Konica Minolta Centuria Super 400

The dream to fly
Is ever colourful.

---
This is the same picture after Picasa's "I'm Feeling Lucky":

The sharper contrast and clearer quality of the processed image makes me wonder why the heck do I even bother to take photos with films... Just a thought...

With Lips I Recount

2008-02-19T20:11:00.005+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 on Kodak UltraMax 400

With my lips I recount all the love words that come from your mouth.
Then with my fingers on my lips and my eyes closed,
You approached me with your eyes full of passion, warmth, and tenderness.
Softly, again, you spoke to me your words of love,
And slowly, gently,
You pressed your lips and made a kiss
On the fingers in between your lips and mine.
"Never forget," you smiled and said, "my love for you.
"And in deep longing, remember my words that are now imprinted in your finger through the talented hands of yours."

---
Inspired by Psalm 119:13 (NIV)
"With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth."

Colours of Homework

2008-01-16T02:31:00.001+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm/1:3.5-4.8 on Kodak UltraMax 400

The colours that I mixed for my first assignment in the Color Theory class at school.
Took the shot to see how films record CMY :)

Colours of Life

2008-01-14T07:06:00.000+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Nikon 35-70mm/1:3.5-4.8 on Kodak UltraMax 400

Finals are eating me away and unstable emotions overwhelming me.
Still, in the short breaks that I am free,
I look around
And see that life is colourful.

All Is Bright

2007-12-24T23:59:00.000+08:00

Nokia N70 (auto mode), f/3.2, 4.5 mm, ISO250

Silent night, holy night;
All is calm, all is bright.

Yes, all is bright.
Yet, all is calm?

How Much?

2007-12-19T19:18:00.000+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm/1:4-5.6 UC-II on Kodak UltraMax 400

How much can one think of another?

Give Me A Hug

2007-12-14T22:55:00.000+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm/1:4-5.6 UC-II on Kodak UltraMax 400

Now a feeling of mine... Quite a strong one...

Give Me A Sky

2007-12-09T20:19:00.000+08:00

Nikon FM10 with Sigma 70-210mm/1:4-5.6 UC-II on Kodak UltraMax 400

Give me a sky that I may fly high;
Give me a sky that gravity I may defy.
Give me a sky that burdens can be left behind;
Give me a sky that...

No.

Maybe it is not a sky that I need.
Maybe it is gratitude of things that I have that I need.