20141122

Chvrches Played KL Live, Kuala Lumpur

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there i was back in KL Live once again. my previous pilgrimage to the venue was more than a year ago, and like a rabid fanboy, i was there an hour before the doors opened for that epic show. this time around i got there right as the doors opened, but already there was a sizable crowd waiting in tow to see the hottest indie act to hit our shores this year.

the hottest indie act?

Chvrches play a blend of synth pop that is catchy and genuinely great to listen to. i generally lump most of these mainstream indie bands into the "guilty pleasure" pile if i happened to enjoy a tune or two from them, but for some reason Chvrches play a respectably progressive kind of pop music - and i spell these words out post-irony.

anyway, they clearly were the hottest act in town because the sizable crowd generally consisted of college kids of the undergraduate variety (that being said, i am a sort of college kid, though of the graduate school variety) that when i think about it were probably around the age of 8 to 12 when the then hottest indie act, Arcade Fire came out with their magnum opus, Funeral. my point being, i felt pretty old amongst these nubiles and fresh-out-of-highschool faces.

to kick things off were a DJ duo of which i had no idea who they were at first (they were +2db) with their brand of chilled out ambient techno. it got the crowd going for a bit - i personally thought they played some decent remixes of none other than the headliner's big hit, "Recover", as well as an odd choice of remixing Justin Timberlake's old classic, "My Love". to think that single came out way back in 2007, when these kids would've most likely been 12 to 15 then - unaware of the significance of JT's pop music renaissance from Justified to Future Sex / Love Sounds. i don't suppose they even recognize the song? again, it's me feeling the pinch of approaching 30.

after pretending to bop to +2db's music for awhile, Chrvrches came on stage and blasted away with "We Sink". it became apparent to me that KL Live's sound system was complete shit as the instruments bled into one another. i basically couldn't tell the instruments apart as i would've easily done when i listen to their records at home or in the car. and to no surprise, Lauren's vocals were heavily buried underneath the mix.

the sorely lacking audio department was somewhat made up by the band's absolutely fantastic light show. laser pyramids envelop Iain and Martin while hazy lights blanket Lauren at center stage - it was unlike anything i've experienced in a gig so far (stopping short at something you'd expect at an EDM show, but that's a line i'll probably never cross). it was mezmerizing, to say the least. coupled with the band's synth pop tunes, the light and sound show complemented each other really well.

the show ended after an hour - what with the band having only released one record and a couple of soundtrack entries so far. the band closed their main set with the crowd-pleaser "The Mother We Share", before returning for a rousing encore. i wasn't sure i got my money's worth, no thanks to KL Live's shitty audio department. for what it's worth, the light show made up half of the entrance fee for me, plus i got to see my waifu Lauren and her band play. also, props to the doorman for letting me bring in my camera. how i wish i had a decent zoom lens with me that night.

20140711

Aquaria

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here in Aquaria was where i fully realized the limitations of my relatively old (in terms of digital camera technology) Canon EOS 400D. i had been lamenting the less-than-stellar lowlight capabilities of my six year old DSLR, and how my limiting myself to an old camera such as this creates a sort of tunnelvision that limits my creativity. however, despite the boundaries imposed by the limitations of my gear, i am generally satiated, if not, satisfied, by this old clunker's performance. a little bit of ingenuity (using a cellphone to light up the subject's face to facilitate auto-focusing), lots of continuous shots (to ensure at least one of my photographs don't turn out blurry from any slight camera movement), and a whole lot of patience (way too many people in Aquaria) goes a long way and i come home with a handful of workable shots to be fed into Lightroom. it's no secret that i am an advocate of Lightroom and VSCO Film, so much so that it generally helps me achieve an expression, or feel i am not capable of doing with just a simple JPEG image straight out of the camera. this feel is such a subjective matter that i simply cannot attempt to describe it, though i try to let my photographs speak for themselves.

Aquaria was somewhat alright, although i cannot quite swallow the idea of animals in captivity anymore ever since my visit to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. i'm no PETA advocate, but animals kept in four walled structures doesn't sit quite well with me.

20140616

Which Camera?

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i love getting new cameras. last year alone i received four new cameras and they unfortunately have yet to be utilized to their full potential. there was this period last year where i had had enough of taking photographs using film, and primarily relegated my picture taking using my 400D and occasionally my cellphone. most of the time i get intensely caught up with my 400D that i tend to forget that i have with me my cellphone and my Meopta Flexaret VII. this is when i start pulling out the latter cameras and take obligatory shots to either fill up my negatives or my Instagram feed. in the midst of fiddling with the cellphone's shitty exposure settings and the Flexaret's manual focus and metering, i end up having less than satisfactory shots that feel more like afterthoughts rather than one that is properly composed, exposed, and anticipated. and finally, having being satisfied with taking my obligatory shots, i stuff my secondary cameras in my bag, struggle to pull out my primary camera, turn it on, and miss some moments of photographic gold.

this exasperating task of deciding which camera to use ultimately causes me to lose focus, and doesn't do any of my photographs any justice. there is a strange duality in my photo feeds - the Instagram feed being too orchestrated and impersonal (i.e. boring), while my other feeds suggests a more spontaneous observation (i.e. less boring). presenting my photographs in two different manners drives me slightly up the wall because my photographs have varying tones across different media, and this ultimately makes my photographs seem inconsistent.

my experimentation with the Olympus E-PL3 yielded a cold and gritty feel to my photographs - a tone i had been fascinated with at that time, though its novelty started spreading thin when i actually started getting depressed at the end of that experimentation period. plus compiling photographs and including the always out-of-place E-PL3 photographs made me decide to never return to that phase.

my Instagram photographs (i.e. my cellphone photos) exuded one particular element of photography i personally dislike - pretentiousness. a strange miasma hits me whenever i attempt to photograph something for Instagram, and i find myself taking some of the most uninspired photographs. i'm not sure whether my crappy cellphone is to blame, or the inane notion of photographing something "nice" for Instagram is causing me to lose interest in photography faster than i can apply a VSCO Cam filter onto my photos. Instagram has a tepid culture of capturing moments too carefully sculpted for my taste - there is no way an Instagram user is able to command perfect lighting in each of their shots, yet they are still capable of achieving those immaculately lighted shots every time! perhaps a whole bunch of Instagram users are perfectionists, and to each their own. i somehow find myself feeling less inspired by this medium. for what it's worth, the photographs are no doubt of high quality and craftsmanship - they just leave me detached as of late.

and this leads me straight back to why i am back in the saddle with my 400D. at least with one camera, i am able to focus all my attention on one device, and perhaps regain some lost inspiration. there will come a time when i have the itch to load a roll of film into my T2, or perhaps my UWS. it's a vicious cycle of never being satisfied with what one has, and perhaps this completely disregards my whole tirade with taking pictures using different cameras. for now, i have my 400D paired with Lightroom, and this is enough to keep me happy and satiated. in my defense, i love all my cameras to bits. i just wish that there was a better way of presenting them without seeming like my work is one big mess of varying phases and fervor.

20140522

...and the shutter counts continue

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it appears that i have not made a diary entry for quite some time. well, in retrospect i haven't been taking as many pictures as i used to. in fact i find myself taking less and less pictures as the years go by - only increasing my shutter counts during vacations and weekend trips away from home. 2012 was the year i concentrated solely on film photography, and by the end of 2012 i was about ready to move on to other mediums to capture my daily life. somehow, film stuck around a little bit longer in 2013, what with my purchase of the Canon AE-1, as well as my brief re-acquaintance with my Flexaret VII at the end of the year. i don't doubt the calibre of these two cameras - they are both fantastic cameras, but using these cameras is akin to tunnel vision. the only notion i have in my head is this feeling of having already tried all these cameras. where else is there for me to go in photography?

one fine day in October, i decided to ditch the analog cameras and dust out my very first camera - the 400D. all my years of shooting in film has made me pick my shots a lot more carefully, and to fully devote my attention to a single digital camera is liberating - coupled with VSCO Film for post-processing, it was like an epiphany for me. everything somehow connected and digital is finally back into my repertoire. granted i still took my Flexaret VII with me to trips, on account that i still had several boxes of film left unused, but my primary focus was to unload all my shutter counts onto my 400D. i found myself a lot more satisfied with my digital shots - and VSCO Film helped me take those shots to a different level of expressing myself through my pictures.

it hasn't been that long since i began using my 400D again, and i figured that if it's still taking proper pictures, i don't see any reason to stop using it. it was then that i had another epiphany - about how outdated my camera actually is. i'd rather not blame the camera when it comes to taking pictures in locations with less-than-satisfactory lighting conditions, but in my case, i realized how much better my pictures could've potentially turned out if i had utilized a more superior camera. this parallels my previous adulation for the AE-1 and Flexaret VII, and how at the end of the day the technology will eventually limit me. has my using of the 400D finally become my crutch?

i can't count the number of times my colleagues have japed at how i should substitute my 400D with a full frame camera. my mantra has always been If it ain't broke, why replace it?, and presently, i still breathe this mantra. however that didn't stop me from considering my upgrade options. a full frame camera definitely sounds very appealing, and the chances of me owning one by the time 2014 closes is quite possible. yet, i still hold dear my trusty 400D - good for another 10 or 20,000 shutter counts, i reckon. it's not that i don't want to work around the 400D's shortcomings - and i always find ways to work around them - by limiting my usage to an old camera, i'm only creating my own tunnel vision. isn't photography all about opening horizons, and discovering new sights and experiences? mayhaps an upgrade is due, but whenever it comes, i certainly will embrace it.

20140520

Deafheaven played Alt+ HQ, Kuala Lumpur

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finding the gig's venue was a little bit of a challenge for me. the venue printed on the ticket says Fahrenheit 88, yet there wasn't any club or store named Alt+ HQ within the mall proper. feeling a tad worried that i'd miss the gig, i finally asked the concierge where the club was, and he directed me through not one, but two fire escape doors that led me to a hallway with hidden shoplots lining the hallway. it was along this secret hallway hidden deep within the mall that Alt+ HQ was located, reeking of stale air and nary any proper ventilation. pretty apt for a venue that purportedly hosts hardcore punk shows - hidden out of sight among the walls of a rather old mall.

in true Malaysian fashion, the show started a half hour late. the doors were scheduled to open at 8PM, though i see the two opening bands scramble into the venue at 7:30PM to make haste with their set up and soundcheck. the show opened with Ipoh shoegaze band, Soft playing their brand of, well, shoegaze. for their namesake, their music certainly wasn't soft - with a wall of feedback constantly barraging the listeners. i was pretty sure that throughout the night, no other band killed my hearing more than Soft did. the only thing i remember from Soft's performance was the wall of guitar feedback, the soft thudding of the drums, and the rather strange sight of the vocalist miming the lyrics because all i could honestly hear was the feedback. perhaps this is how a shoegaze gig looks like.

the second band, Daighila, whom supposedly have toured the international circuit with their brand of hardcore punk, was actually a lot more entertaining to watch. their performance had a lot of energy, and the vocalist was apeshit throughout the band's performance. it was hilarious to see the vocalist throw himself into the crowd, because the crowd clearly are not seasoned for hardcore gigs. several times a mosh pit was on the brink of actualizing, but fortunately not everyone was game. nobody likes a mosh pit.

in between Deafheaven setting up for their performance, the venue's emcee/hypeman, Mr. Big, gave an awkward banter to get the crowd hyped up. he felt mostly silent halfway through, constantly looking at the stage exit while anxiously waiting for the band to finish their set up so he could get off the stage.

enter Deafheaven - bathed in pink lights and opening with Dream House. the band played the entirety of their latest record, Sunbather (minus the interludes), which is great because Sunbather's mistaken identity was the reason i decided to check this gig out in the first place. the band gave a rousing performance with every note intact and delivered with passion and overwhelming energy. the vocalist, George Clarke, was a magnetic sight to behold. he is charismatic, and somewhat elegant in his posturing and mannerisms. Deafheaven's music exudes warmth and catharsis, and it reflects in George's constant interaction with the crowd - holding out his hands into the crowd, waiting to be embraced, or the band member's constant urge to stage dive and crowdsurf. as the band reached the crescendo of The Pecan Tree, the crowd was ecstatic to receive George's stage dives, and they carry him like he carries his emotions while he performs - fragilely and enthusiastically.

as i stumbled out of the venue, slightly disoriented from the loudness, i make my way down a smoky and dingy flight of stairs, littered with cigarette butts, empty cans, and torn posters. it seemed to go on forever when i finally emerged outside of the building along a dodgy street, breathing in the relatively fresh KL air. the gig-goers were lighting up outside the exit, and some were making their way to the 7-11 next door after sweating it all out in the poorly ventilated venue to grab a bottle of water. i paid for my bottle of 100 Plus and left the 7-11, trying to figure out where i was while containing the post-gig excitement and adrenaline that threatened to seep out of my pores. i walked away from this gig, glowing, tired, but feeling very much alive. the city lights of Bukit Bintang never looked so beautiful, and the air so cool. i didn't care how much my ears were ringing, nor did i worry about how much parking was going to cost. it was a gig - a moment in time - that will forever remain etched in my memory. a moment where i felt alive - alive of the life-affirming kind.

20140512

Seoul On Film

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i love Seoul.

Meopta Flexaret VII
Fuji Pro 160NS

20140326

Seoul: Night Time

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when i look back at my photographs from Seoul, the ones i feel the most attached to are the night shots. nothing brings a metropolitan city to life quite like the darkness of the night and the beacons of light that illuminate it. i admit that i'm a romantic for the city lights, though i'm not quite the nightcrawler i make myself out to be. what i find most enchanting about cities at night is to prowl the streets in search of the cacophony of incoming headlights, neonlights, streetlamps, window lights, or even the lights of some dingy bar or club.

much as i love the night walks in Seoul, the cold was something i'd never expected. to a certain point the cold nights in the street were bearable, but when the wind blew it hits you so hard you might as well have been in your skivvies prancing in the cold, cold street! especially at close to midnight when temperatures start dropping below zero degrees - it makes snuggling up under a warm blanket in the guesthouse a more appealing proposition rather than getting lost in the streets of Seoul.

with all that being said, there's always this one wistful sentiment i tend to have after a holiday - about how i wish i had taken more pictures! though that feeling will probably linger on until i return (if i return) to Seoul, i'll always have these photographs i've taken within those five nights in Seoul - and that makes me appreciate them a lot more.

20140322

The Engagement of Bartholomew & Siok Yee

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in the midst of the bustling metropolis that is Seoul, i had the privilege and honour to bear witness to the engagement of two of my best friends, Bartholomew and Siok Yee. it was quite a sight to see Bartholomew in his Korean pop star get up as he made his proposal to his longtime partner, Siok Yee! and what better way to seal the engagement than to leave a padlock at N Seoul Tower and throwing the key away to symbolize their eternal love (though the couple opted to throw the key away at Namiseom, rather than at N Seoul Tower). my best wishes to the couple!

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