My obsession with Holga cameras has not dissipated...





Don Cruz, Eurasian rockstar and lead guitarist of Audiotraffic.  He is also a cat lover.







This is my favourite cheap spot to chill out with friends.  We hit up the 7/11 for beers, sit and enjoy this view.  The best altenative to Lan Kwai Fong!







Toes..  My dahhling Desi, my favourite photographic subject, sitting still for this long exposure..  This photo is the highest 'favorited' photo on my Flickr account.   







Vigil - 12:30am,June 4th, 2009 - Outside the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.  I had to hold the camera still, against a tree, for 20 seconds to get this photo.  Fortunately, people were sitting very still.  After I took this shot they all sang the Cantonese version of  "Do You Hear The People Sing" from Les Miserables.  It moved me to tears.







Mr. Fung, the artist, has a tiny little stall in Mong Kok where he's been painting for a living for 45 years.  I've had him paint pictures of my grandfather and of Desi's nana, each of which cost $400 HK dollars.  He's one of the few artists of his kind left in HK.  Hey, AnD!  Can we get him on here as a featured artist?







Shoe Box Living, Mong Kok.  This is the view from my room.







Using a Holga is my small way of rebelling against digital and the widescreen format.  For HK$180 it's also a great alternative to all those exorbitantly priced cameras out there.




And...  Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes!  I really appreciate them!  It feels great to finally throw away my fake ID!! 

"An actor uses his imagination to pretend to be somebody else." Robert De Niro


Thank you, Desi, for showing me this!


Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHfser_9_s&feature=channel_page

Wow!  What a first week we've had!











Thank you to all the students for giving it their all and to Jeanne for her dedication to her students. 

Fun times...


And for those who have been thinking of taking Jeanne's acting class we still have a couple of spaces left for this weekend and next week so let me know!

I haven't blogged in ages! 


I've been in California for the past month taking photos with my new Holga camera! 

The Holga is a cheaply made plastic 'toy' camera that was designed in 1982 in Hong Kong to sell to the masses in China.  Because of it's poor quality and construction it leaks light and causes blurs and vignetting.  But this is exactly what people have come to love about them.  I've been shooting with digital cameras for quite some time now and it has been an absolute pleasure to shoot on film again with this camera.  The one thing I miss when shooting digitally is the excitement and anticipation of picking up your prints at the store, not knowing what you're going to get.  I've also found that shooting with the Holga forces you to pick your shots more carefully as you only have 12 frames per roll.  With digital I fire away so much that I get lazy.  I still love my digital camera but it's been a joy to re-discover film.


The Holga doesn't forward the film automatically so you're able to make multiple exposures like this:





The Holga only has one aperture but it does have a bulb setting that allows you to make long exposures.  In this photo Desi sat very still while I held down the shutter for 8 seconds.   





I know this shot is kinda cliche but I took the opportunity to snap it anyway.





Atlas holding up the Heavens





Desi taking a photo of Stephen and Mickey with my digital point 'n' shoot.





Mickey and Stephen.  They're grinning now but they won't be so happy in about 3 minutes when the police lifeguard come zooming up to us, busting us for alcohol on the beach.  Ouch!





Santa Cruz students smoke a lot of weed and set themselves on fire a lot.





Off Campus Parking




Campus Stroll





Desi and a Lighthouse




Where did Holga get it's name?  It's from the Cantonese "Ho Gwong" meaning very bright!







Annnnnnddd...

I also have some good news, Jeanne Hartman, my long time acting coach is coming back to Hong Kong to teach some more acting workshops!  More about that soon..

I saw another great film the other night that I want to recommend.  It's called 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days.




Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPnuZI6wPUI

This is another great video from TED.com that Desi showed me.




Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXQAgzfwuNQ

Jose Gonzalez is playing next week in Hong Kong.  Anyone going?



Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_kLwQJUqYU&

I wish Desi were here, I'd take her..

Gomorra

I watched this movie last night and all I can say is, it's brilliant.  As soon as I was finished I watched it again.  I'm shocked that it wasn't nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film.  Although it was nominated for a BAFTA, it didn't win. 

In the US it's released as a Martin Scorsese Presentation which, to me, doesn't do the film justice as this piece of work stands on its own.  It doesn't need the hype, the 'Hollywood movie trailer voiceover' or the name-dropping.   But... here's the trailer if you're interested.



Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_u21bXuiO8